Friends Together began in 1999 as the vision of Cathy Robinson Pickett and Steve Pickett in their dream of building a better future by meeting families’ needs for HIV/AIDs advocacy and awareness. In 2000, Friends Together shifted from being a loosely organized, grass-roots functioning group to becoming a well-organized and managed 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that offered regular HIV/AIDS-relate
d services, such as training, workshops, and family camps. Over the next decade, Friends Together became internationally known in its quest to assist families, particularly those with children infected and affected by HIV/AIDs, by providing education, support, and a plan for living. Today many of those served by Friends Together have gone on to a better life of completing college, embarking on careers, and creating their own families. In 2010, the economic downturn, which reduced financial contributions, and growths in HIV/AIDs educational and support systems, led Friends Together to suspend its 501(c)3 status and return to its grass-roots beginnings. During this time, it networked with other support organizations and churches to serve its families. Friends Together also evaluated its own "plan for living" by assessing the needs of today's generation and re-envisioning its role in working toward building a better tomorrow. In fall 2014, Friends Together will re-emerge as an organization that both remembers and builds on the firm foundation of its past to expand its reach to educate a new generation and help it overcome the challenges to creating a better future. We are registered with the state of Florida as a nonprofit organization however we do not currently have a federal 501 3c designation, so your donations that go directly to helping make this dream possible may not be considered tax deductible. However they will be directly going to support our mission of creating a better tomorrow for our world. Friends Together is made up totally of volunteers, no one is paid for their time or service and their dedication over the last 15 years has been remarkable and unwavering. FT’s revised mission emphasizes its ongoing vision of making the world a better place. Friends Together, Inc, is an organization that empowers people to respond effectively to current social issues that affect their own and their community’s wellbeing and safety. It accomplishes this goal by educating about and providing safe spaces for open and informed conversations on topics such as HIV/AIDs, reproductive health, domestic violence, bullying, and sexual orientation. Through education, FT inspires today’s generation to take action to improve their lives and the local and global community.
