Cate and Carter’s Story

Cate Mills is a care partner and Alzheimer’s Association advocate from Moore County, North Carolina. Her husband, Carter Grine was diagnosed in 2023 with younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease and primary progressive aphasia, a form of frontotemporal dementia. Cate and Carter have built their advocacy around a family mission statement: lead with love, spread hope, listen with compassion and dignity. They have worked to change how people engage with someone living with dementia, including speaking directly to the person rather than to their care partner.

After Carter’s diagnosis, Cate and Carter formed a team for the 2023 Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Moore County, Servin’ Up a Cure, which raised $16,100. Months-long delays in getting Carter access to Leqembi led them to meet with their state, local, and national representatives about treatment access and coverage, and they were selected to represent their congressional district at the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C.

They have also shared their story through a 2024 WRAL News report on Alzheimer’s research at UNC Chapel Hill, the Alzheimer’s Association North Carolina story “I Am Still Me,” the 2025 video “Faces of Alzheimer’s 2025,” and a 2025 PBS North Carolina panel, “Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s.”