Erin is an INELDA-certified end-of-life doula and certified thanatologist practicing in greater Richmond, Virginia. She founded Nightsong Doulas in 2023 after 25 years in marketing. Erin currently works with families, hospices, and communities throughout the region and is fiercely committed to evolving the way our culture approaches death and dying. When she is not working to improve the experiences of families navigating mortality, she is kayaking, making stained glass, spending time with her 17-year-old son, hiking, and gardening.

Never Can Say Goodbye

by Darnell Lamont Walker

Darnell Lamont Walker, author of Never Can Say Goodbye, is a death doula, Emmy-nominated children’s television writer, producer, and explorer. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, he creates spaces worldwide for healing through storytelling, end-of-life care, and workshops on grief, resilience, unlocking the writer within, and radical empathy. He joyfully lives in the Chattahoochee National Forest of north Georgia.

It’s always a treat when we are able to hold a training in person. This month, educators Erika Lim and Nzinga Abdullah-Aziz had the opportunity to bring together 45 learners for a weekend training in Santa Monica, California. Participant Cassandra Zamora shared, “I entered INELDA’s training without many expectations. With some exposure to hospice and end-of-life care, I thought I had a sense of what the experience might be like. Instead, it gently surprised me. While the training provides thoughtful and grounded preparation for supporting individuals and families at the end of life, what touched me most was how much space it creates for inward reflection.”

Dr. Arash Shamsian joined us at our doula training in Santa Monica. The founder of Golden Gate Hospice Care and a physician focused on expanding compassionate, community-based end-of-life care, Dr. Shamsian partners with end-of-life doulas and community partners to help patients receive earlier supportive care, strengthen family support systems, and improve quality of life at the end of life.

INELDA is a proud partial sponsor of In the Wake of Life: An Immersive Experience About Not Getting Lost in Loss, produced by Elizabeth Coplan, founder of Grief Dialogues, and directed by Dani Davis. Come join co-creator and Detroit lead Pastor Corey Kennard and special guests Qwynn Galloway-Salazar, PhD, MA, and Marla Ruhana, LMSW, community liaison, for innovative storytelling and optional participation. The immersive theatrical experience, which will take place Tuesday, May 5, combines short plays, poetry, music, interactive sculpture, and guided audience reflection to explore dying, death, and grief. The piece will be staged at The War Memorial in metropolitan Detroit, in the neighborhood of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

Subrina Wood (1956-2025) served on INELDA’s advisory board, offering her deep experience in tax, assets, and management. INELDA was so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Subrina. As an advisory board member, Subrina brought her extensive expertise, energy, deep laughter, and insights to the organization. Not only was she a whiz with numbers, her deep love for sci-fi and commitment to the arts led her to cofound SyFy Sistas Podcast and CinnCinne Goes SyFy Podcast. Subrina will be honored over the course of the year with virtual events, culminating with her 70th birthday celebration in September 2026.

The Funeral Service Insider podcast host Tony Russo spoke with INELDA’s executive director, Douglas Simpson, about end-of-life doulas and the bridges we build between care systems and circles of care. Tune in to the episode, “Douglas Simpson on Mentorship and the Future of Death Doulas” for how professional training is evolving to include hands-on experience and community-led support.

“When you are walking alongside clients with dementia, I have found it helpful if you can find out:

1. What they loved between the ages of 10 to 15 years old.

2. What games they played when younger. 

3. What their favorite animals are. 

4. Significant others in the present. 

5. Other memories that show up naturally. 

I can use the information like buzzwords as they shift throughout their dimensional travels. I walked with a gentleman who was 6 feet, 5 inches tall and still fit. His family was afraid of his outbursts. I inquired what games he loved to play, and he shared that he loved basketball. On my next visit I showed up with a basketball and was dribbling it out on the driveway. He heard me and came outside to see me. I handed him the ball once he asked to play, and he started dribbling it.”

—Rich “Doc” Blues

The team at Psych/Armor specializes in military cultural awareness and competency. It is made up of Veterans, military spouses and family members, caregivers, survivors, and individuals who show up every day for our military and Veteran community. Together, this team has built asynchronous learning modules for those serving Veterans and their families. Offerings include The Basics of Military Culture and Caring for Veterans Through the End of Life.

Supporting caregivers of people with dementia could be more clinically effective—and more cost effective—than drug interventions, concludes a recent study published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Behavior and Socioeconomics of Aging. The collaborative care models used in the study were not predicted to extend lifespan but were projected to give people with dementia several more months at home before transitioning into a care facility.

Body disposal is often framed as a matter of personal choice or cultural tradition. A recent paper published in Mortality asks whether it’s time to start framing it as an environmental issue.

“First and foremost, to think about [human body disposal] as an environmental issue requires, we argue, a reconceptualisation of human death beyond individuals and its (re)imagining as something of a planetary or population matter,” the study authors write.

New York joined 12 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing medical aid in dying. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the bill enshrining the right of terminally ill New Yorkers with six months or less to live to use MAiD, ending a legal battle that began in 2017 when the New York Court of Appeals rejected a claim that such patients had the right to prescribed lethal drugs.