Catherine immigrated from the Caribbean island of Trinidad in 1975, leaving the warmth of the equator to start a new life adventure in Edmonton, Alberta, with her husband and their one year old daughter.

Catherine worked at the University of Alberta for 30 years in various capacities, including 'Telecommunications Analyst'. She was diagnosed with Scleroderma in the spring of 2003, and retired and moved to Ottawa in 2006, where she started attending meetings held by the Ottawa Scleroderma Support Group. She served as a board member for the Scleroderma Society of Canada from 2007-2017, and as Treasurer from 2009-2017.

Catherine's passion is helping others. She has training in peer support using the 'Stanford University' workbook methods, and has co-facilitated many chronic illness peer support workshops. She has also been the facilitator of the Ottawa Scleroderma Support Group since September 2014. She is very involved with the Ottawa chapter of 'Walk or Run in the Park for Scleroderma', and has also advocated for the Canadian Organization for Rare Diseases.