Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative

Maura McInerney-Rowley

Death Doula & Founder of Hello, MortalHello, Mortal

Location: Denver Colorado 80211 Email: znhen@uryybzbegny.pbz

Categories: Celebration of Life, End-of-Life Doula Services

Categories of Service Celebration of Life, End-of-Life Doula Services

Details

I grew up in Philadelphia, raised by two loving lesbian moms alongside my older sister and our beloved golden retriever. My mother’s battle with breast cancer, which began when I was just five years old, profoundly shaped my outlook on life and death.

My transition to adulthood was marked by the loss of my mother during my junior year of college. She died less than two months before my 21st birthday (which we had been planning for together), and it rocked me. I graduated from college adrift, feeling unmoored and unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was that I wanted to enjoy what was left of it because why not, if you could die tomorrow? I adopted a “go big or go home” attitude and ended up becoming a wedding planner for the rich and famous in Aspen.

Interestingly, years later, it was at a Colorado wedding (where I was a guest, not the planner) that I took another unexpected step in the journey that began with my mother’s death.

On a sunny August morning in Boulder, I woke up excited and energized for the day of joyful festivities ahead of me. I was up in the mountains to celebrate the wedding of a couple I cherish dearly. The bride was a dear friend whom I’d initially bonded with over losing a parent around the same age, and she’d asked me to read a beautiful poem about lost loved ones during the ceremony. Little did I know the poem would soon take on new meaning when, within hours of waking, we received the devastating news: A guest (one of the bride and groom’s close friends from college) had tragically died the night before. He was 30 years old—the same age as me.

Looking back, the wedding was a pivotal moment that sparked my deeper life’s mission: to reimagine end-of-life care and transform the denial of death into a celebration of life.

For death is not the opposite of life, but an integral part of life. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, or that we shouldn’t grieve. But it means that if we can expand ourselves to hold both the joy and the pain, the love and the grief, we might come into a relationship with death that is life-affirming rather than fear-based.

Whether death is expected or not, we will never be ready. Death has a finality that you can’t 100% prepare for. However, what we can do and what we can control is how we celebrate and honor someone’s life. We can talk about it. And we can share our end-of-life wishes to alleviate some of the pain for loved ones when we die.

Let’s embrace death–together.

Mike Reagan

End-of-Life GuidePeaceful Presence End-of-Life Services LLC

Location: 4483 Applewood Court Boulder Boulder Colorado 80301 Phone: 720-951-0279Email: zvxr@crnprshycerfrapr.betWebsite: Peaceful Presence End-of-Life Services

Categories: End-of-Life Doula Services, Speakers Bureau

Categories of Service End-of-Life Doula Services, Speakers Bureau

Details

I decided to become an end-of-life guide after identifying a significant gap between the beautiful and essential care available through hospice organizations and the broader spectrum of support and services most families need once a terminal diagnosis is received.

While I spent over 30 years as an IT executive, retiring in 2017, I have felt drawn to this field my entire life. At a very early age, I began to understand the sacred space of the dying, working for seven years during high school and college for a family-owned funeral home in Medfield, MA. In my early twenties, my experience as a seminarian in the Catholic church deepened my awareness of the power of holding space for people in need of spiritual support. As a volunteer for Meals-On-Wheels for ten years, I came to know first-hand how isolating and fearful approaching the end of one’s life can be.

I formally began my work with the dying in 2017 as a hospice volunteer. In that capacity, I have served hundreds of dying patients and accompanied many of them at the time of their passing. I’m often asked “How can you do this work? Isn’t it depressing?”. My simple answer is “It fills my heart”. I feel so blessed and honored to accompany people during their final stage of their human journey. I have witnessed time and again how a loving, peaceful presence can help individuals and families transform from a state of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear to one of profound meaning and peace.

I have lived in Boulder, CO with my wife for over 25 years. While my clients are mostly from the Boulder/Denver area, I will serve wherever there is a need. The services I offer include:

Legacy Work
Companionship
ComfortTouch
Respite
Post-death Planning
Vigil Planning
Sitting Vigil
Grief and Reprocessing

Certifications and Trainings

INELDA-trained End-of-Life Doula
ComfortTouch-Certified and Teacher
Trained as an 11^th Hour Companion
Cause-to-Pause Contemplative End-of-Life Training Graduate
Experienced in serving Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) patients

“We’re all just walking each other home.” -Ram Dass

Sigrid Swerdlin

End-of-Life DoulaSunset Doula LLC

Location: Denver Colorado 80237 Mobile Phone: 720-548-0021Email: fhafrgqbhyn@lnubb.pbz

Categories: Advance Care Planning, Client Advocacy, Companioning for Dying Person, Eldercare Consulting, End-of-Life Doula Services, Legacy Projects, Life Review, Online/Multimedia End-of-Life Services, Respite for Caregivers

Categories of Service Advance Care Planning, Client Advocacy, Companioning for Dying Person, Eldercare Consulting, End-of-Life Doula Services, Legacy Projects, Life Review, Online/Multimedia End-of-Life Services, Respite for Caregivers

Emma Weisfeld-Adams

End-of-Life Planner, Death Doula, Meditation GuideBeautiful Life Beautiful Death

Phone: 917.684.9975Email: rzzn@ornhgvshyyvsrornhgvshyqrngu.pbzWebsite: https://www.beautifullifebeautifuldeath.com/

Categories: Directories, End-of-Life Doula Services, Uncategorized

Categories of Service Directories, End-of-Life Doula Services, Uncategorized

Veronica Wiley

End-of-Life Doula, Ecotherapy Facilitator, Yoga Instructor (E-RYT & YACEP)Outside Rites, Ltd.MBA

Location: PO Box 372244 Denver Colorado 80237 Phone: 303-621-4864Email: vasb@bhgfvqrevgrf.betWebsite: Outside Rites, Ltd.

Categories: Client Advocacy, End-of-Life Doula Services, Grief and Bereavement Support, LGBTQIA+ Ally/Advocate, MAiD Support, Meditation/Visualization, Music Therapy, Other Therapies, Sitting Vigil, Spiritual Guidance, Vigil Planning, VSED Support, Yoga, Restorative/Supportive

Lori Rienstra

Lori RienstraAlpenglow

Phone: 970.260.4388Email: Nycratybj.rbyq@tznvy.pbz

Categories: Directories, End-of-Life Doula Services

Categories of Service Directories, End-of-Life Doula Services

Summer Downs

Death Doula & CeremonialistFiercely BelovedM.A.

Location: Lakewood Colorado Phone: 720-587-9298Email: fhzzre@svreprylorybirq.pbzWebsite: Fiercely Beloved

Categories: Celebrant & Funeral Officiant, Celebration of Life, Community Ritual, Education/Training, End-of-Life Doula Services, Funerals, Grief Support, Home Funeral Guidance, LGBTQIA+ Community Member, Officiant/Minister, Ritual & Ceremony, Spiritual Guidance, Vigil Planning

Tawnya Musser, Founder

Dear Departures

Phone: 719-430-5272Email: gnjaln@qrneqrcnegherf.pbzWebsite: DearDepartures.comCEOLC Member Profile: Dear Departures

Categories: Advance Care Planning, Celebration of Life, Ceremonies/Rituals, Companioning for Dying Person, Education/Training, End-of-Life Doula Services, Funerals, Grief and Bereavement Support, Home Funerals, LGBTQIA+ Ally/Advocate, Living Funerals, Memorial Services, Officiant/Minister, Pregnancy/Infant Loss Support

Vanessa Johnston

End-of-Life Doula, Co-Founder, CEOLC Volunteer Vice President, MembershipDenver EOL DoulaInternational End-of-Life Doula Association (INELDA)

Phone: (303) 241-3396Website: DenverEOLDoula.comCEOLC Member Profile: Vanessa Johnston

Categories: Companioning for Dying Person, End-of-Life Doula Services, LGBTQIA+ Ally/Advocate, Life Review, MAiD Support, Meditation/Visualization, Other Therapies, Planning/Legal, Reiki/Energy Work, Respite for Caregivers, Sitting Vigil, Speakers Bureau, Spiritual Guidance, Support for Caregivers, Support/Advocacy, Therapies, Vigil Planning, VSED Support

Kerry Arquette

End-of-Life MidwifeEnd of Life MidwifeCertified by The Conscious Dying Institute, Denver Hospice

Location: Denver area Fairplay & surrounding Colorado United StatesEmail: qrnguzvqjvsr.nedhrggr@tznvy.pbzWebsite: End of Life Midwife

Categories: Celebration of Life, Ceremonies/Rituals, Client Advocacy, Companioning for Dying Person, End-of-Life Doula Services, Funerals, Grief and Bereavement Support, Legacy Projects, Life Review, Living Funerals, MAiD Support, Meditation/Visualization, Memorial Services, Memorials, Planning/Legal, Respite for Caregivers, Sitting Vigil, Speakers Bureau, Support for Caregivers, Support/Advocacy, Therapies, Vigil Planning, VSED Support

Marisa Rose Verrier

Companion-Animal End-of-Life Doula, CEOLC Volunteer Treasurer and Co-FounderSacred Soul Passages LLC

Location: Denver and the surrounding area Colorado United StatesEmail: znevfn.ireevre@lnubb.pbz

Categories: Celebration of Life, Ceremonies/Rituals, End-of-Life Doula Services, Funerals, Grief and Bereavement Support, Home Funerals, Intuitive Animal Communication, Legacy Projects, LGBTQIA+ Ally/Advocate, Life Review, Living Funerals, Meditation/Visualization, Pet Hospice, Pet Respite, Reiki for Ill and Dying Pets, Reiki/Energy Work, Sitting Vigil, Spiritual Guidance

Categories of Service Celebration of Life, Ceremonies/Rituals, End-of-Life Doula Services, Funerals, Grief and Bereavement Support, Home Funerals, Intuitive Animal Communication, Legacy Projects, LGBTQIA+ Ally/Advocate, Life Review, Living Funerals, Meditation/Visualization, Pet Hospice, Pet Respite, Reiki for Ill and Dying Pets, Reiki/Energy Work, Sitting Vigil, Spiritual Guidance