Our Founders
Jane Anderson, Death Midwife elderwoodapothecary@gmail.com 303-506-4565
Jane Anderson is a dedicated professional in end-of-life care and the wellness community. With a deep commitment to sustainability, Jane advocates for natural funeral options that honor both the deceased and the environment. Her work emphasizes compassionate support for families during their most challenging times, ensuring that each time together is personalized and meaningful.
Jane is involved with TRU Community Care, where she has provided compassionate care and support to patients and their families during the final stages of life from 2016 to 2022. Her dedication to holistic end-of-life care is broadened through her work as a Clinical Herbalist, where she believes that the gifts of the earth can help support our return back to the earth. Through her relationship with herbs and aromatherapy, she has created a line of essential oil blends that help support one’s passage across the threshold and the family's journey alongside their loved one. Her creation in 2019 and current management of the Aromatherapy program at the TRU In-Patient Care Center at Longmont United Hospital also support those patients and families on the hospice journey.
Jane's multifaceted approach to care, combining traditional practices with natural solutions, underscores her commitment to fostering a healthier, more compassionate community. Jane’s skills include holistic end-of-life care management, funeral home planning and facilitation, home funeral support, grief tending, and ritual. Jane is currently accepting clients in the Denver and the surrounding areas.
Susan Mackey, Certified Thanatologist, Certified Death Doula
720-884-6878
outoftheboxfuneralplanning.com
outoftheboxendoflifeplanning@gmail.com
Sue’s passion lies in helping people navigate the complexities of end-of-life preparation as a final gift to the ones they leave behind. She has extensive experience in creating effective health care advance directives and other documentation to support those who may be there to care for you. She also possesses a wealth of knowledge regarding today’s funeral industry and the myriad of options, including home funerals and green burial. Her depth of knowledge serves her clients well, though along with the solid grounding of the practical, she also brings her therapeutic presence to the psycho-spiritual aspects that arise as part of the process.
Sue is a Certified Thanatologist, serves as a member of the Ethics Consult Team at Boulder Community Health, and has worked as an admissions counselor for hospice. Her end-of-life doula training has included Naropa’s Contemplative End-of-Life Care program, Sacred Art of Living and Dying modules, Willow Farms Contemplative Care Training, Doorway into Light Death Doula training, and certification through the Quality of end of life.
Celia Macedo, End of Life Doula
cemacedo@yahoo.com
720-985-3063
Celia Macedo has been practicing End of Life (EOL) Doula services since 2019 after being certified by the Conscious Dying Institute as a “Sacred Passage: End of Life Doula.” Celia brings a calming and grounded presence to the process of dying with the focus on physical comfort, listening, human connection, and pain control.
Celia’s services include the following skills:
Non-Violent Communication - NVC
Language and cultural diversity – English, Portuguese, and Spanish dance, music and arts
Meditation and care planning
Mediation
Best 3 Months of life
Care planning
Conscious touch and soft massage
Bedside Vigil Support
Guided Meditation
Ritual
Eldercare
Celia thinks death shouldn’t be an emergency. She offers preparation and precious companionship to the dying and their family. In the Spring of 2021, Celia started a Death Discussion Group (Dying to Talk about Death?) to bring the death and dying conversation to communities in Boulder County.
Nicole Matarazzo, Certified Death Midwife
nmatarazzo4@gmail.com endoflifepathways.com
860-965-7548
Nicole’s poised and compassionate spirit as a certified End-Of-Life Practitioner offers a sense of calm to adults, children, and families facing an overwhelming, uncertain, and isolating time. She considers it an honor to be called to the sacred space of dying, where she devotes her tender and intuitive heart to the vulnerability and complexity that illness and death bring forth. Her extensive experience and depth of study in end-of-life care inspire comprehensive and heart-centered support during a challenging and demanding time. She began her work as a Child Life Specialist, tending to the psychosocial and emotional needs of children dying of AIDS and cancer, which later led her to develop End Of Life Pathways. Nicole believes that our body, mind, and soul deserve the most loving presence and care, especially when death is near.
Nicole offers a full spectrum of services, including Practical Care Management, Specialized End-Of-Life Care Planning, Pediatric End-of-Life Care, Dementia Diagnosis Support, Guided Meditation, Ritual/Ceremony during vigil and after-death care, Home Funeral Facilitator, Funeral Home Consultant/Final Disposition Education, Officiant, Grief Tender, MAID (Medical Aid In Dying) support, education, and advocacy, including VSED (Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking) support. She is a Heart Math and Comfort Touch Practitioner. Learn more at her website: www.endoflifepathways.com.
Nicole serves Boulder County, Larimer County, and Denver, including long-distance/remote education and support via Zoom.
Stephanie Schacht, Attorney at Law ~ Estate Planning Attorney & Death Doula
stephanieschacht@gmail.com or stephanieschachtlaw.com
(o) 303-554-1501 ~ (c) 720-371-3218
My hope is to provide guidance for families and friends in all aspects of life experiences. Creating a comprehensive estate plan or updating existing documents can be a true gift for your family. I can help identify and achieve your legacy goals with unique care and understanding as I combine my legal background and my end-of-life doula knowledge. I also help with guardianships, conservatorships, probate and trust administration. Leave a map, not a mess. And if it’s a mess, I can help with that too.
Lena Wenzel, Certified End-Of -Life Doula
FullCircleEndOfLifeCare@gmail.com
303-507-4352
I am a native of Colorado with a diverse and rich background, from design and architecture to senior care to the love of teaching health & fitness and serving in the Peace Corps. I came to doula work having a profound experience with my grandparents during their transitional end-of-life care. During my Peace Corps service, I was interested in how other cultures view and value dying as an integral part of everyday life. From these unique experiences, I embrace living, including the dying process. As life is constantly shifting and evolving, I focus and dedicate myself to building authentic connections with others. These contributions and engagement in service shape the way I walk with others in their individualized end-of-life evolution. As fears drop away, as a transition coach I can support families and individuals in their acceptance and sometimes beauty of death. I believe working with the dying, as a witness to what is unfolding, is a great honor, privilege, and a deeply sacred calling.
SERVICES OFFERED:
Sensitive guidance and support for individuals and their families in the following ways;
End of Life coaching and planning
Identifying obstacles and finding workable solutions
Creating and completing legacy projects
Sacred passage vigiling
Comfort touch
Creating legacy stories through professionally capturing audio & video recordings
Meditation and grounding methods
Providing assistance with options and resources
After death celebration & ceremony
Grief support
Certified in Medical Aid in Dying (MAID)
All this is offered with the primary intention being the utmost accommodation and attention to the needs, wishes, and heart of each individual I serve. Serving Boulder and Metro areas and remote.
Julie Freed, End Of Life Doula
julie@juliebfreed.com or juliebfreed.com
541-621-9400
IIn some ways, death has been my companion my entire life, as my two year old sister died 12 days before I was born. My life has been a journey through many therapies, starting at the tender age of nine. Looking back, I see that I have always been traversing this blessed path of my sister’s death, as it has shown up in different disguises.
I have come to understand the pain and suffering of my mother, who lost one baby daughter only to birth another days later. I have come to honor my sister’s short life on this earth, as she has led me through the wild nature of grief and loss. Most importantly, I have come to understand that by embracing my pain, I am able to turn what I have gained throughout my life and learning into an offering for those who may benefit. It rings true that where our wounds lie, so lie our most precious gifts. It is with humility that I step out to walk with others towards their home coming, no matter their stage of life.
SERVICES OFFERED:
Death Doula and End-of-Life Care
Grief Guide
Dream Tending
Family Constellation Facilitator
Yoga, Breathing, Meditation
Somatic practices
Certified in Medical Aid in Dying (MAID)