Activist educates on AIDS

Cathy Robinson Pickett gave birth to two things in 1991: her second child, Garrett; and activism in support of others, like herself, who have HIV/AIDS.

Pickett, whose tireless work promoting HIV/AIDS education and prevention has brought her national recognition, will bring her message to Callahan on Monday.

Already pregnant, Pickett learned in 1991 she and her husband at the time were HIV-positive after routine tests for an insurance policy. The infection was traced back seven years earlier to 1984, when Pickett was robbed and raped when she was working at a store in Tallahassee.

When she was giving birth, her treatment by nurses, several of whom refused to work with her, aggravated an already difficult situation -- she already was worried her child would be born with the same infection.

Garrett, now 12, and his sister Lyndsy, 13, are HIV-negative.

"I remember laying in the birthing center, and thinking, 'Here I am, an upper-middle-class, well-educated white woman. And if I'm being treated like this, how are other people being treated?,'" Pickett said.

After sharing her story with a support group, an AIDS activist told her that if she wanted to do something about it, she needed to speak out. She agreed, and spoke at a hospital.

"I went and did it. I was just there, telling my story about how I had been treated at this other hospital. Truly, when they looked at me, they saw their daughter. You could see grown men crying. And for me, it was the most cathartic thing you could imagine," Pickett recalls.

In the 12 years since, Pickett has not stopped speaking, despite developing AIDS in 1996 and fighting a bout with breast cancer three years later.

Pickett, who lives in Lakeland, drives about 70,000 miles across Florida to about 250 speaking engagements a year. She founded Friends Together, a non-profit foundation, with husband Steve Pickett, who grew up in Nassau County. Her mother-in-law, Lorraine Pickett, is secretary/treasurer of the Callahan Lions Club, which is hosting Cathy Robinson Pickett's appearance.

Friends Together offers prevention education and sponsors support camps for HIV/AIDS patients and caregivers.

Pickett's efforts led the U.S. Jaycees to name her one of the Ten Outstanding Young Adults in 2001. She's also been profiled in People magazine and named a Point of Light both nationally and by Gov. Jeb Bush.

After it took so long for HIV/AIDS to hit the national radar, Pickett said it's frustrating to see it drop off the radar 20 years into the epidemic, especially as the number of people infected continues to rise.

One out of every 168 Floridians is living with HIV/AIDS, and the state has the third-highest rate of AIDS cases in the nation. Florida has the second-highest number of pediatric and female AIDS cases in the nation.

"That is staggering; think about how many people that is," Pickett said.

The drugs now available for HIV/AIDS patients have proved to be a double-edged sword. While many patients can continue to lead active lives for years despite their infection, the medical strides have led to complacency about the disease, particularly among young people, Pickett said.

"As we again don't pay attention to it, it certainly will come back to bite us on the butt," she said. "We're never going to cure this disease. What we have is education and prevention, and it starts in a room like the Lions Club."

For more on Pickett's organization, go to www.friendstogether.org.