Current Events

Alana Hurov’s daughter, Katherine, was diagnosed with Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) at just two years old. Katherine’s journey, like that of many children battling rheumatic diseases, has been challenging yet marked by her remarkable resilience at such a young age. “My daughter’s journey with JIA has not been easy,”…

Did you know that March is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month in Canada? Here at Cassie + Friends, we have been raising awareness and providing support to the JA community since 2007! We are the only charity in Canada exclusively dedicated to the pediatric rheumatic disease community and our dedication shows!…

Let’s Crush JA by recycling your bottles and cans or starting your very own bottle drive! Simply collect your bottles and cans, select how/where you’d like to return them, and Voila! Bottle Recycle Depots: Return It Express Go Stations: find an Express Go container near you Schedule a Pick Up: We…

Hello there! My name is Emily Bessey. I am 19 years old and live in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. My journey with JIA and TMJ started way back in 2009 when I was just 6 years old. I would go to school limping, hardly able to walk, but return home…

Caden was diagnosed with JIA when she was just 3 years old. When we first noticed her limping, we thought she may have hurt her knee skiing as we had just taken her for her first lessons. Then one morning I saw her sneaking down the stairs from her bedroom,…

Hello,  My name is Emma Linsley, and I am from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. When I was 15 years old, I was diagnosed with JIA. Along with needing to learn to manage the physical ailments of the disease, this diagnosis brought with it a complex set of other challenges that my support…

This article was written and reviewed by the Cassie + Friends Medical Advisory Committee made up of Dr. Roberta Berard (London Health Sciences Centre), Dr. Nadia Luca (Alberta Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Lori Tucker (BC Children’s Hospital). To learn more about the Cassie + Friends Medical Advisory Committee, click here. Some…

6.5 million people are affected by arthritis in Canada and about 24,000 of them are children. Cassie + Friends is just for them. Kids like Audrey (pictured right) – diagnosed at just 18 months – need our help to make sure their health and futures are a priority, even beyond…

A vital part of the work we do at Cassie + Friends stems from our involvement in important research in the pediatric rheumatic (PR) disease community. Over the past decade, we’ve helped endow a research chair, fund a new international post-doc, build one of only three PR labs in Canada, launch…

How can we best transform the lives of youth affected by rheumatic diseases through Cassie + Friends? This March, in recognition of juvenile arthritis awareness month and #WORDDay, we hosted the very first Cassie + Friends Hackathon to get creative and collaborative around community-driven solutions that answer the question “How can we…

Dear Friends + Partners, As part of our advocacy for Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month, I am pleased to let you know about a special editorial by Cassie + Friends appearing today in the Toronto Star newspaper and digitally on healthinsight.ca. Click here for a link to the full article. Your voice is…

Did you know that March is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month in Canada? Here at Cassie + Friends, we have been raising awareness and providing support to the JA community since 2007! We are the only charity in Canada exclusively dedicated to the pediatric rheumatic disease community and our dedication shows!…