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In December of 1995, after eight months of severe illness, Kathy Button was diagnosed with celiac disease. Her doctor told
her, "Don't eat any wheat, rye, or barley." and she was left on her own. Being the kind of person that wants to know the how
and why of everything, Kathy began researching, hunting down medical journals, textbooks, and articles. When she
realized this was a serious, genetic disorder she informed her family of their need for testing. Soon her sister, Mary Jean
Vawter had a positive diagnosis as well.
The two sisters realized there must be more people in Simi Valley, where they lived, that had this disease and looked for a support group to join. After realizing there was nothing available, they decided to start their own group. Their first meeting had four people. Mary Jean saw that the Celiac Disease Foundation was advertising their new local Connections groups and called them. Elaine Monarch told her, "No, we don't have a group started yet. Would you like to start our first Connections group?" So the little group became the very first Connections group for the CDF.
With Mary Jean as the lead and Kathy as the researcher, the group continued for several years, primarily meeting in homes or a local restaurant. In 2002 Kathy was seriously injured and had to drop out of the group for about a year. At that time Jo Ramsay stepped in to assist Mary Jean as a co-leader of the group. By the end of 2004, both were needing to relinquish some responsibility due to family and personal needs. Kathy, having recovered from her injuries, stepped in to assume leadership of the group.
The two sisters realized there must be more people in Simi Valley, where they lived, that had this disease and looked for a support group to join. After realizing there was nothing available, they decided to start their own group. Their first meeting had four people. Mary Jean saw that the Celiac Disease Foundation was advertising their new local Connections groups and called them. Elaine Monarch told her, "No, we don't have a group started yet. Would you like to start our first Connections group?" So the little group became the very first Connections group for the CDF.
With Mary Jean as the lead and Kathy as the researcher, the group continued for several years, primarily meeting in homes or a local restaurant. In 2002 Kathy was seriously injured and had to drop out of the group for about a year. At that time Jo Ramsay stepped in to assist Mary Jean as a co-leader of the group. By the end of 2004, both were needing to relinquish some responsibility due to family and personal needs. Kathy, having recovered from her injuries, stepped in to assume leadership of the group.
Where Ventura County Celiacs began...
Kathy began by contacting everyone on their mailing list to encourage them to attend the newly formatted meetings. Their
contacts now covered all of Ventura county and a few surrounding cities. She arranged for a large meeting room central to
the county, contacted local gastroenterologists and provided them with materials on celiac disease, placed ads in local
papers, and began a series of lectures. The groups' attendance doubled. In early 2005 a web site was created for the group.
The site, www.venturaceliac.org, drew in even more people and now the group has over 350 members ranging from Santa
Barbara to Santa Clarita, plus several from other states on the email news list. The group is self sufficient, not taking any
funds from the CDF, due primarily to raffles and donations. The group does bulk purchases of gluten free products, which
provides the members with substantial discounts. In 2006, Kathy received her diploma in Nutrition Specialist studies and
continues to work hard to ensure their group is provided with accurate, medically based information on celiac disease and
gluten free living. In 2009, the group became a chapter of the Celiac Disease Foundation.