Meet Chelsea Woolf!

Chelsea has a love for medicine and is devoted to learning more about why and how the body works the way it does.

Chelsea was born in Calgary, Alberta, and currently lives in Edmonton where she works as a paramedic. She has also served as a medic in the energy sector and completed firefighter training this past June. She is passionate about supporting people through their healthcare journey and advocating for resources to empower everyone to access the knowledge they need to live healthy lives. Outside of work, Chelsea loves to ski and sing!

Chelsea became involved with Cassie + Friends when she was 18 when she joined a research group studying the experience of transiting from pediatric to adult rheumatology care. She also presented her story as a youth panelist at the 2021 C+F Virtual Transition Fair.

Her work within the Youth Ambassador Program:

Upon reflecting on her experience as a child navigating JA, Chelsea realized there was a lack of kid-friend information and resources that could help her understand her diagnosis and what was happening inside her body. She remembers going to rheumatology appointments, eye doctors, and physical therapists and getting bloodwork done but never understanding why. While talking to her Dad about the opportunity to submit a project idea to the C+F Youth Ambassador program, he mentioned that he also found it difficult to explain ger JA and the medication world that she now belonged to her as a child which in turn caused stressed and anxiety for the whole family.

To fill this gap, Chelsea project aims to equip parents and kids with a tool that explains the JA journey in an age-appropriate way and enables them to prepare for what is yet to come. Chelsea hopes this book will become widely available for children throughout Canada upon diagnosis and will lead to more books on other rheumatic diseases.

The most important part of the project for Chelsea is emphasizing to children that chronic does not mean incapable – her vision is for the book to carry an optimistic voice that both empowers and educates.

Meet Matthew Sholdice!

Matthew was born and raised in London, Ontario, and currently attends McMaster University in Hamilton, where he studies Health Sciences. Matthew enjoys staying active and watching Netflix when not in school or working. Matthew is a black belt in goju ryu karate and has played volleyball, hockey, and soccer!

He is a committed advocate for the childhood rheumatic disease community and an active volunteer in both youth-focused and research initiatives. His career goal: to become a rheumatologist and complement his practice with his own lived experience. In the meantime, he is passionate about creating resources that extend beyond treatment and medication outside of the doctor’s office (i.e. nutrition and yoga classes).

Matthew first got involved with the community as a camper and then counselor at camp Cambria (later Camp Ontario), a camp for kids ages 8-17 diagnosed with rheumatic disease, where he has also formed lifelong friendships. Matthew also works for The Take a Pain Check Foundation as an outreach coordinator.

Matthew initially became involved with Cassie + Friends when his rheumatologist passed along a survey from the organization asking for feedback on what makes a good mentorship program. This further fueled his already existing interest in their organization and led him to reach out. Since then, he’s participated in several youth-focused sessions and share his own story on the C+F website (which you can read here and includes his own thoughts on transitioning to adult care). Now, Matthew is acting as a Youth Ambassador for Cassie + Friends and getting the chance to create his own project.

His work within the Youth Ambassador Program:

Matthew’s project was inspired by his time volunteering for a program called Project Thrive in Ontario. Project Thrive worked with newly diagnosed families and organized events where they could learn from and connect with other families. Parents had the opportunity to chat with healthcare professionals and, at the same time, the kids participated in an activity aimed at learning life skills specific and vital to rheumatic diseases. Unfortunately, despite the adults saying how valuable this program was, the program is no longer available.

Matthew hopes to carry this torch and continue the work with his own spin and experiences; therefore his project is to create a similar event that gives newly diagnosed families the opportunity to join the community and learn about rheumatic diseases.

If you live in Ontario, keep an eye out for event information related to Matthew’s project!

Meet Ciara Mahaffy!

Ciara is an ambitious and proactive member of her community – wherever that might be and whatever that might require! Ciara lives in Vancouver, BC, and is currently studying in Toronto at the University of Toronto. Some of Ciara’s main interests include acting, English literature, dancing, and singing.

Ciara is completing two majors, one in English literature and one in dramatic literature. She is also working on a minor in creative expression and society. While attending university, Ciara has become deeply ingrained in her campus community. She is a co-president of the Trinity College Dramatic Society, a choreographer for a UofT dance club, a dramaturg for a production with the UofT college St. Mikes, and a member of the intramurals ultimate frisbee team. Ciara is also a mentor for a specialized first-year program and was an orientation leader for incoming freshmen. In addition, this year, she started a new club at UofT directly connected to her Youth Ambassador project!

Ciara was first introduced to Cassie + Friends when she was initially diagnosed but did not become directly involved until 2020. Ciara started by joining their Teen Arthritis + Autoinflammatory Groups (TAG) and attending their virtual education sessions. In 2022, Ciara also worked as a summer student at Cassie + Friends and organized several projects and fundraisers include the Team C+F Runs and BC Raffle. You can read more about Ciara here.

Her work within the Youth Ambassador Program:

Ciara’s project aims to raise awareness about the lack of understanding JA when it comes to peers and educators. When assessing her university community at-large, she noticed that this lack of empathy for those with rheumatic diseases and other chronic illnesses and/or disabilities is far too common. Ciara strongly believes this comes from a lack of knowledge of rheumatic diseases and how they affect the individual rather than a lack of general empathy and kindness. Ciara proposed that if her peers had more knowledge of rheumatic diseases, they would be better equipped to support those with a rheumatic disease, like herself.

To address this concern, Ciara’s project aims to make the campus more inclusive and supportive by establishing a student club called the UofT Rheumatic Disease Awareness and Action Organization. The club will provide education and connection opportunities for the campus, allowing them to learn more about rheumatic disease, as well as give those living with rheumatic disease the chance to interact with each other. The club will also organize fundraisers in support of Cassie + Friends.

Ciara envisions that project will raise awareness and understanding of invisible/less visible struggles and credits Cassie + Friends as a source that helped her understand more about her disease. She hopes she can do the same for her new community!

Meet Maryse Hendi!

Maryse loves to do fiber art like crocheting and needle felting – enjoying the meticulous nature of making 3D art! As a student, she is currently attending the University of Calgary (UofC), majoring in sociology and minoring in health and society. Her choice of study is largely rooted in her own diagnosis and experiences within healthcare.

Maryse has had many ups and many downs throughout her medical journey and is passionate about contributing to solutions that better overall experiences for everyone. She is enthusiastic about sharing her story of navigating Lupus in hopes that it can help others. Although unsure of her future career, she generally hopes to have a career where she can positively impact the lives of young children dealing with illness.

Maryse is already starting to help people where she can. She is the president of The Invisible Disability Education and Advocacy Association (IDEAA) at the U of C, which supports awareness of invisible disabilities. The club promotes education and advocacy for all invisible disabilities and has raised funds for various organizations. The club’s goal is to encourage open conversations about invisible disabilities and their impact.

Another way she is helping her community is through Cassie + Friends. In 2020, by coincidence, Maryse connected with a Cassie + Friends employee at an event who encouraged her to join the community. Since then, Maryse has been involved with various programs, volunteered for events and runs, and provided two blog posts. Learn more about Maryse here and here.

More recently, Maryse attended the C+F Youth Vision Session event, where individuals were invited to discuss solutions to positively transform the lives of youths with rheumatic diseases. Maryse mentioned during the event that it would be valuable to have a place that compiled information for pediatric lupus. Later that year, Maryse applied for the Youth Ambassador program using that same project idea, and got into the program!

Her work with the Youth Ambassador Program:

Maryse’s project is a continuation of this initial brainstorming idea and is based on her experiences trying to find credible pediatric lupus information to little or no avail. As a child diagnosed with lupus, Maryse remembers her and her parents being overwhelmed with how easy it was to end up on a website with scary or unreliable sources. In addition, the information was written for adult lupus – not childhood lupus, leaving her feeling in the dark.

To address this gap, Maryse wants to create a digital hub on the C+F website where families can easily find and access reliable pediatric lupus information.  Working alongside healthcare professionals, this new resource will be medically vetted and easy to read and understand empowering both parents and kids to take control of their healthcare journey.

Meet Alejandra Van Dusen!

Alejandra lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, where she is an active member of her community. As a student, she attends the University of Regina and is working towards a Bachelor of Health Studies degree. Her desire to study in this area comes from her life experience in the health system, which inspired her to pursue a career that could positively shape health systems and policies. While interested in health policy and health-related research, she has yet to decide on her career path and is remaining flexible.

Alejandra has recently started working part-time as a program administrator in the public sector. She is also an outreach coordinator for Take a Pain Check, helping contact stakeholders for the foundation. In addition to her already busy schedule, Alejandra also volunteers at a student-led community health centre. When not doing all this great work, Alejandra loves to swim and bike ride – riding up to 60 kilometers on a nice day! She also identifies as a Taylor Swift super fan!

Alejandra learned about Cassie + Friends through social media and was excited to join a community of young people with rheumatic diseases. Soon after, she joined the Cassie + Friends Patient and Community Engagement Research (PaCER) program. In PaCER, she was trained in qualitative research and got to connect with others with rheumatic diseases to perform a research project to help make a difference in the lives of people with JIA. Many participants in the PaCER program talked about their struggle to transition into adulthood with their rheumatic disease – this included the switch from pediatric to adult care, high school to post-secondary, entering the workforce, navigating relationships, and more! She also experienced this firsthand at the edge of young adulthood – a time when so much is happening all at once.

Her work with the Youth Ambassador Program:

This experience sparked her project idea for the Youth Ambassador program: the creation of a multimedia (video, graphic, and/or written form) library that shares various resources and stories of lived experiences from those who have navigated young adulthood with a rheumatic disease. The style of the content will vary from interview/Q+A to advice columns and cover anything from university to jobs, to love and social life. In addition, the library will be supplemented with related research articles.

The central goal of this project is to provide a level of support, mentorship, and community connection that empowers young adulthoods to take the reins of every aspect of their lives – especially their health!