"People have come to think that we have an acceptable level of HIV/AIDS in our country ... however, it is dangerous thinking," said Randolph, the executive director of the North Georgia AIDS Alliance. "This is a 100 percent preventable disease and if we don't continue to educate people, or provide the services to those that are actually infected with HIV/AIDS, it could start ballooning all over again.
"We battle with complacency ... a lot of people feel that we know about it, we have been educated."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were an estimated 40,608 AIDS diagnoses in the United States in 2005. Georgia is fourth in the country in reported AIDS cases, with 2,333 in 2005, the most recent year available.
The North Georgia AIDS Alliance works to diagnose, prevent and educate about the disease.
The nonprofit group officially was created in 1998 and is celebrating its 10th year of service in the North Georgia area.
“This year we are planning to really get out there information about the issue, creating awareness in the community,” Randolph said. “We are the only nonprofit in this region (District 2 Public Health) that does HIV/AIDS as a specific issue.”
The North Georgia AIDS Alliance also is trying to clarify misinformation about HIV and AIDS.
“There is a lot of stereotyping ... still going on,” Randolph said. “The concerns now primarily are for young people because those numbers are rising alarmingly, and of course there are the African-Americans where nearly 50 percent, or half of the cases in the United States, are African-Americans. And African-Americans only represent 13 percent of the population.”
The nonprofit offers free HIV testing to “remove any barriers that any individual who feels they want to get a test,” she said.
But Randolph said she believes the main reason people aren’t getting tested is the stigma surrounding the disease.
“We want to end the stigma, end the silence, end the shame that is associated with HIV/AIDS so that people can seek the care that they need, get the information they need to prevent infection,” she said.
Randolph has served as the executive director since 2005 and takes her position to the next level in the Hall County community, according to brother Errol Randolph.
“She has that mentality that John Kennedy talked about when he said ‘(Ask not what your country can do for you), ask what you can do for your country,’” said Errol, a Gainesville native. “She chooses to try to make a difference in an epidemic that has taken and decimated thousands of people even here in the United States.”
At only 36, Randolph has already accomplished a lot, both for her community and country. Along with her work with the North Georgia AIDS Alliance, she served in the U.S. Peace Corps and has volunteered with local lawyer Ashley Bell’s nonprofit organization Generation Inspiration and the Randolph Big JK Blue football camp.
“As far back as I can remember, my life has been about service,” Randolph said. “That’s where I get most of the joy in my life is giving back to others. Volunteering, tutoring kids, working at homeless shelters, service has always been a part of who I am. It’s is something that I learned from my grandmother (Ruby Randolph) ... and I used her life as an example.”