“Throughout all of these experiences that I have had with Cassie + Friends, there is one throughline: Understanding. Understanding is a concept not to be underestimated.”
Meet Ciara.
It was after after my body couldn’t row anymore, my hands couldn’t hold the pencil, my joints ached in pain, and after my diagnosis of JIA, that I lugged by laptop over to my desk and googled “free mailout package for teens with JIA”. It was during the early days of COVID and receiving items in the mail was quite possibly the most exciting thing going. My peculiar google search led me to a page devoid of the junk mail registration that I so desperately desired, but full, instead, of education and connection opportunities much more meaningful than any mailout could provide.
It was at this point that I dove into the safe harbor of the Cassie + Friends lagoon and began to swim in the enriched water, seasoned with laughter, support, and community.
I attended the Teen Arthritis Group where me and my fellow JIA teens treated the friendly trivia competitions a little too seriously. I learned more about why my immune system had decided to treat my joints like a punching bag, and how the medication I was taking was acting as the peacekeeper, at the Virtual Education Series. I was inspired by the Youth Leader Awards to create a video for my high school about invisible disabilities, including JIA. This past year I took a bucket full of Cassie + Friend’s enriched water and used it to start putting out a fire I saw at my university: Major Lack of knowledge and understanding of Juvenile Arthritis, evident in this video that I made here.
What is the most exciting to me, though, is the incredible opportunity that I have got this summer and last to work at Cassie + Friends. I can’t imagine a better summer job then getting to be the support where I was supported.
Throughout all of these experiences that I have had with Cassie + Friends, there is one throughline: Understanding. Understanding is a concept not to be underestimated.
Having opportunities to be around peers with whom I don’t have to explain and having a summer job at a place where my limitations are understood, is such a sign of relief.
Thank you for running for that in-pain teen desperate for support she didn’t know was out there yet. It’s here now.
– Ciara
