Educator Profile: Valoria Walker

by Garrett Drew Ellis

Valoria Walker: A Doula by Destiny

As INELDA continues to strengthen its infrastructure, our commitment to DEI and justice remains at the forefront. Part of this commitment includes diversity of ethnicity, experience, identification, and thought within every level of the nonprofit’s leadership, management, and teaching staff. 

In July of 2021, a number of new educators who identify as people of color (POC) were added to INELDA’s team of educators. Valoria Walker, a Black woman with a range of experience, education, and commitment to the end-of-life field, joined to instruct the growing community of end-of-life doulas. Coming to INELDA from Maryland and the capital region, Valoria shares not only her wealth of knowledge, but also a sensibility that is unique to the needs and perspectives of the Black community surrounding death, dying, grief, and aging. 

 

Valoria,  what made you want to become an end-of-life doula?

Honestly, I had no plans to ever become an end-of-life doula. I didn’t know such a thing existed. But to make a long story short, after losing my mother, I felt a strong desire to influence individuals to have gentle conversations around preparing and planning for the end of life. That is why I say to anyone who asks me this question: My mother’s death birthed my destiny to be an end-of-life doula. As an end-of-life doula, I am charged to take the sting out of the hard conversations around death and to normalize it.

 

What made you want to teach others, and what is your teaching philosophy and style?

My desire to become a teacher came from the lack of awareness in our society around preparing for death. This is not limited to funeral planning, but includes the last days of death. There’s a difference. Conversations around hospice and palliative care need to be had. During my mother’s transition, uninformed decisions were made. My family had no one to help us juggle the tremendous amount of medical information and terminology given to us about my mother’s last days. I remember sitting at her bedside, experiencing this soul-wrenching feeling that I had to make a change to the moments that we experience around the end of life. If I could prevent any adverse outcomes for the dying and their families, I would be fulfilling my destiny.

My teaching philosophy and style is heavily dependent on preparation. I don’t like “teaching from the hip.” It throws me off and is a disservice to those I am teaching. Authenticity, curiosity, and humor are at the foundation of my teaching style, along with storytelling. Because I am naturally curious, I set an environment in the classroom to encourage others to ask questions because curiosity leads to learning.

 

How is INELDA’s training different, and why did you decide to use your teaching skills with this organization?

I can’t compare INELDA’s training to any other organization because this is the only training I have taken. However, I decided to use my teaching skills to support this organization because of the recent change in the need for diversity within the training and development program. Since I took my training in 2017, the need to have someone who looks like me at the front of the classroom was and still is important. I am fortunate that INELDA’s development training team values my input as an educator. I hope to continue contributing to INELDA’s plans to create various new courses that support many communities. In this, INELDA shows that all individuals are welcome and can contribute to the growth of this organization.

 

How does being a person of color play into your work as a death doula?

Although COVID-19 has enlightened society about EOL doulas, educating my community is an ongoing duty as an African American EOL doula of color. Black Americans are 50% less likely to complete advance directives than White Americans. Religion is embedded in Black culture and often contributes to the lack of planning around the physical process of dying versus the spiritual process. Community and faith-based education about the benefits of hospice and palliative care to help diminish the barriers that people of color experience are essential conversations. Compared with most Caucasians facing their end of life, “the talk” and knowledge about advance care planning and estate planning have been discussed.

Sadly, my credibility, skill set, and knowledge are often questioned, and I tend to believe that it is sometimes because I am Black. At the end of life, some people still evaluate me by my skin color and not by the gift in my heart. 

 

What are some things you want people to know about the unique needs of people of color in regard to death and dying?

Assumptions impact each of us regardless of our color. Persons of color have reasons to distrust and reject the dominant mind-set that has conditioned us as being or doing what is considered as “right.” Last year I created an event called “Dying White, Dying Black, and Dying Gay.” This event resulted in witnessing the different aspects of each segment of these populations. Still, it also discussed the common issues of lack of access, lack of education, lack of communication, and lack of acceptance that persons of color experience daily. They deserve a death that is just as honorable for them as for non-POCs. We all die in unique ways, but persons of color have often relied on their faith in God since slavery, where dying is a sacred ritual and death is a celebration. Those elements are not new in the Black culture. They are a part of our traditions, roots, and foundation. To have the dominant mind-set that “Black Lives Don’t Matter” cuts at the core of our existence as human beings.

 

What would you like students to walk away from a training with after having been taught by you?

I would like students to have renewed self-confidence and the motivation to continue with life’s learning lessons. I would love for them to embody my favorite quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” And to know that success doesn’t require perfection; it requires persistence.

 

Bio: Valoria Walker is an end-of-life doula, advance care planning facilitator, and an INELDA EOL educator. She is the founder of Doula by Destiny, an organization whose mission is to serve and educate the community about holistic end-of-life care. In addition, she partners with organizations to promote the significance of advance care planning in the event of medical emergencies. As a speaking ambassador she brings awareness about the end-of-life doula movement and the significance of advance care planning. In addition to this work, she also coaches doulas who are new to the role and desire to develop their practice as an independent contractor. Valoria’s accomplishments include the publication of her interview, “Parting Gift,” in O, The Oprah Magazine’s “How to Grieve When You’ve Lost a Loved One,” and her degree in management of aging services, which she earned in 2018. Valoria co-chairs INELDA’s BIPOC Advisory Council and served as an End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council Member for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). She is also a Certified Willow EOL Educator.