TIME TO SMILE

NORTH MIAMI'S CENTER FOR POSITIVE CONNECTIONS CELEBRATED ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A PICNIC FOR KIDS OF ITS HIV-POSITIVE CLIENTS

It was a great summer party for children in a pavilion marked only as ''Sheri's Group'' in Oleta River State Park in North Miami. Volunteers painted faces, put on a magic show and taught kids to tempt fish with bits of squid at the fishing pier.

'The purpose is just to put some smiles on these kids' faces,'' said Sheri Kaplan, director of the Center of Positive Connections. ``A lot of our clients are single parents, and their children may not even know they have this. So HIV and AIDS are never mentioned here.''

A picnic on Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of the North Miami-based center, which serves thousands of HIV-positive people in the county with counseling, holistic health and housing services. The center began as a monthly social for about two dozen HIV-positive heterosexuals, founded by Kaplan in August 1995.

Social events like the picnic and an annual Poz Cruise fundraiser are part of the plan.

''There's always a social aspect, providing an atmosphere where people can be comfortable being who they are,'' Kaplan said. ``We've had marriages, babies.''

The center began with an emphasis on heterosexual people but has opened up to homosexuals. Eventually, the center wants to expand its holistic and alternative health services, such as massage therapy and acupuncture, to those with other illnesses as well.

Charles LeClair, chairman of the Miami-Dade HIV/AIDS Partnership, chewed corn on the cob and spread the word about activism. New treatments are improving the lives of people with AIDS, he said, and more money is needed to help those who can't afford to buy them.

''Sheri is wonderful and we need more people like her in the community,'' LeClair said. ``We need more people to speak out for more funding. People are becoming too complacent and that means death.''

In April, the Florida Department of Health reported that 21,682 people are living with HIV/AIDS in Miami-Dade and 12,898 in Broward.

Pamela Lewis of North Miami Beach was a longtime volunteer for the group who recently started work at the center as an executive assistant.

''I am so grateful for the new medicines. I'm a 16-year survivor and the last five years have been the best,'' Lewis said. ``I finally feel like I can really live, not just survive. It's not a death sentence. And my husband, who's HIV-negative, has been very supportive and we have a great marriage.'