We’re proud to celebrate Janet Kitchen as a recipient of the Community Pillar Award. Her passion for expanding access to HIV care, championing advocacy, and creating inclusive, affirming spaces—especially for transgender individuals—continues to inspire our mission. This honor represents not just her leadership, but the powerful, collective work of our entire team at Positively U.
Join us in celebrating Janet Kitchen as she is honored with the Marco Castro-Bojorquez Positive Leadership Award by the U.S. PLHIV Caucus. This prestigious award recognizes her outstanding dedication, advocacy, and transformative leadership in supporting people living with HIV.
This is the heart of Positively U: strong community partnerships, compassionate outreach, and a team that shows up fully for the people we serve.
We are so proud of this work and endlessly grateful for a team that leads with excellence, compassion, and heart every single time.
Janet Kitchen’s incredible journey from breast cancer survivor to HIV advocate is nothing short of inspiring. After battling breast cancer and being misdiagnosed with HIV, she became a fierce activist, advocating for HIV awareness, better healthcare treatment, and racial equality in healthcare.
In this powerful video, Janet shares her story of survival, resilience, and the importance of advocacy. She takes us through her personal experiences with breast cancer, the emotional toll of living with a misdiagnosis, and her transformation into a leading voice in the HIV community.
Through Janet’s eyes, you’ll see how medical inequalities impact marginalized communities and why we need more awareness and compassion in treating HIV. She’s on a mission to make sure that no one else feels alone or ignored in their battle with HIV or cancer.
What you’ll learn in this video:
Stay tuned until the end of the video to hear Janet’s message on how she is helping others facing similar health battles.
“One, we know that the person that’s come in for the HIV test is sexually active. We know that they came because of some either education, fear or an inkling that they may be susceptible to HIV, and that’s where the conversation starts,” said PositivelyU Executive Director Janet Kitchen.
Janet Kitchen joins N-Touch News to discuss HIV prevention on Let’s Talk Business.
Learn how Positively U approached their project for WIN 2023: Reducing Isolation and Building Community Through Mental Health Focused Vision Board.
Arriving in Washington D.C. this Saturday July 21st, hundreds of AIDS advocates will board eight “Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS” trains—originating from New Orleans, Louisiana; Toledo, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; Providence, Rhode Island; Miami, Florida; New York, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina and Savannah, Georgia—headed for D.C.
BARTOW — Newly reported cases of human immunodeficiency virus increased noticeably in Polk County during the first eight months of this year, as they did statewide, building on increases seen in 2013 and 2014.
