A moment with ... Janet Trinkaus, Rise N' Shine

Janet Trinkaus left the for-profit business world in 1988 to found the non-profit organization Rise n' Shine, a charity serving children and teens affected - though not necessarily infected - by HIV/AIDS. While directing a six-person full-time staff and roughly 150 volunteers, Trinkaus works directly with youths in weekly support groups, summer camps and a host of other activities. For many, she is their third, second or even only parent.

Why an HIV/AIDS charity? Had the disease personally affected you in some way?

I didn't know anyone affected. I didn't know anything about the issue. It was not my disease. It was a gay disease, and nobody wanted to deal with it. That was the climate then. It's less so now, because now we think of children in Africa. But what about our children? My thought back then was, if this is in the gay community, it's eventually going to be heterosexual. And if it's heterosexual, then it's going to be in women. And if it's in women, it's going to affect children.

Has the organization faced opposition?

I got frowned on by people who said: "Please don't form this agency. There are so many sick men dying. There's not enough money. Kids aren't infected. They're not dying." What kind of a society thinks like that? I charged ahead, thinking this was a country that really cares about our children and will do anything. I found out that's not true. I ended up using all my money, selling my farm, going broke.

How are children uniquely affected by HIV/AIDS as opposed to, say, cancer?

Living with a terminal illness that is socially isolating and a lot of discrimination around, they need to know they're not alone. Some families are afraid that others will find out; there's still that secrecy around it and all the stigmas attached to it.

Do you ever have to turn people away for lack of resources?

Never. I can't conceive of doing that. Still, we just serve the tip of the iceberg.

Can your mentorship program accommodate every child?

We have a waiting list. One of our greatest challenges is to get culturally appropriate mentors - people of color. There has been an increase in our agency of children of color - they're now 55 percent. And our volunteers are Caucasian. We're also challenged to get male mentors. There's a lot of stigma still around AIDS, and they'd rather go be a Big Brother than work with a kid affected by AIDS. I don't know how you make that change.

How do kids respond in a support group setting?

They come once a week and deal with issues - death and dying, participatory grief, issues around HIV and AIDS. It's very important, because they get to talk about it all in a safe, confidential place. They can say things they can't even tell their friends. And some can't even tell their extended families. What happens is the kids become family to us.

RISE N' SHINE

Mission: to advocate and provide emotional support for children and teens infected or closely affected by HIV and AIDS.

Number of people served annually: 150 to 165.

Annual budget: $480,000.

Amount of budget from Readers Care contributions: one-twelfth.

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