The Green Burial Council (GBC) advocates for environmentally sustainable death care through green burial. Our mission is to promote responsible, natural death care by providing education; ensuring that death care providers meet evolving ecological standards, and the public receives quality information on all the death care options available to them.

To register, click HERE

Astoria Death Cafe brings together people of all ages to talk openly about death, dying, and what it means to be human as we face life’s biggest transition. These conversations are community-led. The group offers a welcoming space where everyone can feel supported, comforted, respected, and most of all, connected. Here, you can share your thoughts, fears, and experiences about death, grief, and the end of life in a safe and non-judgmental setting. The cafe also helps people find resources and information about end-of-life matters. In line with the Death Cafe’s mission, participation is free, but donations to help cover refreshments are welcome.

Click here to learn more about Death Cafe's history. If you're interested in exploring virtual Death Cafes, click here.

Location:  Astoria Visual Arts (AVA), 959 Commercial Street, Astoria, OR, 97103

RSVP, or for questions, please email dardi@viemort.com 

Co-Facilitators: Dardi Troen and Kyle Fujisawa

Presented by Cristina Chipriano, L.C.S.W., F.T.

Cost: $65/person

Registration closes 10 a.m., PDT, September 23, 2026

While any type of death can leave families feeling isolated, some are met with more shame and stigma than others. Deaths from suicide, homicide, substance use, or certain illnesses may evoke disapproval or blame toward the person for how they died, distracting from who they were and how they lived. This webinar explores the unique challenges faced by children and teens who are grieving a stigmatized death. We will discuss the profound emotional complexities, including the guilt, blame, powerlessness, and fear, that can accompany these losses. Join us as we consider best practices for challenging stigma and providing meaningful support for children and families who are grieving a death that may be shrouded in silence and judgment.

Register HERE

The Green Burial Council (GBC) advocates for environmentally sustainable death care through green burial. Our mission is to promote responsible, natural death care by providing education; ensuring that death care providers meet evolving ecological standards, and the public receives quality information on all the death care options available to them.

To register, click HERE

Astoria Death Cafe brings together people of all ages to talk openly about death, dying, and what it means to be human as we face life’s biggest transition. These conversations are community-led. The group offers a welcoming space where everyone can feel supported, comforted, respected, and most of all, connected. Here, you can share your thoughts, fears, and experiences about death, grief, and the end of life in a safe and non-judgmental setting. The cafe also helps people find resources and information about end-of-life matters. In line with the Death Cafe’s mission, participation is free, but donations to help cover refreshments are welcome.

Click here to learn more about Death Cafe's history. If you're interested in exploring virtual Death Cafes, click here.

Location:  Astoria Visual Arts (AVA), 959 Commercial Street, Astoria, OR, 97103

RSVP, or for questions, please email dardi@viemort.com 

Co-Facilitators: Dardi Troen and Kyle Fujisawa

The Cheryl Hauser Effect, a documentary

Location: The Lantern, 2828 Southeast Stephens Street, Portland, OR

The film shares the story of Cheryl Hauser, a Minnesota woman who, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, chose to face the end of her life on her own terms through VSED (Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking). At seventy-six, Cheryl became a thoughtful advocate for end-of-life autonomy, inspiring important conversations about dementia, caregiving, and personal choice.

This special preview event offers an early look at The Cheryl Hauser Effect while the film is still in production. Through selected clips and conversation, we'll explore Cheryl's story and the impact this film hopes to make.

During this special evening, you will:

• View selected, never-before-seen clips from the documentary
• Learn more about VSED and end-of-life options
• Hear from those directly involved in the story and the work surrounding end-of-life autonomy

A conversation will follow with:

Randi Ewing, Palliative Care Director, Eden Health
Dr. Stephanie Kaplan, Naturopathic Physician Specializing in End-of-Life Care
Dr. Pete Regan, First physician to prescribe under Oregon's Death with Dignity Act
Jamie Thrower, End-of-Life Doula and Grief Educator

Join us for an evening of storytelling, education, and conversation as we share Cheryl's story and build support for the film's completion. Learn more at thecherylhausereffect.com

Admission:
$10.00

In person | Local

Thursday, September 17, 2026 | 9:30 am–1:30 pm
Tillamook County Library | 1716 3rd St., Tillamook

Join community partners in Tillamook County for the 2nd annual Dying to Know event, a free gathering for Tillamook County residents to learn, connect, and become better informed about end-of-life care and planning.

The morning will include conversations about:

• Death doulas

• Home health and hospice

• Funeral and cremation services

• Death Café

• Advance Directive Workshop

The event brings together local organizations and professionals working across the continuum of end-of-life care and support, including Building Partnerships for Older Adult Behavioral Health, Morningstar Death Doula, Adventist Health Tillamook, Columbia Pacific CCO, Waud’s Funeral Home & Tillamook Crematory, and the North Coast EOL Collective.

Community-Centered Death Care: A Lived Experience
Presenters: Kevin Shukla, Jim Emmerson, and Gale Ousele

To register, click HERE

Join the North Coast EOL Collective for a conversation about one family's experience caring for a loved one through the end of life and beyond: the support in her final months, care for her body after her passing, a home burial, and continued care for her living legacy.

Kevin Shukla, a resident of Hebo and frequent participant in the North Coast EOL Collective offerings and the Coastal Community Death Care Series, will be joined by Jim Emmerson and Gale Ousele; friends, neighbors, and co-facilitators in one peaceful passing. Together, they will reflect on their experience throughout the entire continuum of home death care.

Rather than a "how-to" presentation, this offering will provide an opportunity to learn through lived experience. Their story invites us to consider what is possible when families, friends, and communities reclaim meaningful roles in caring for one another through death, burial, remembrance, and stewardship.

As always, there will be time for conversation and questions.

This offering reflects the North Coast EOL Collective's belief that learning about death and dying happens not only through education, but through listening to one another's stories, strengthening community wisdom, and creating A Collective Approach to Death and Dying

To register, click HERE

In online sessions for people grieving a loss, critically-acclaimed vibraphonist Chris Dingman plays evocative improvised music that guides an internal journey many have found comforting and healing. Creative writing specialist Dr. Debbie Bronkema and somatic therapist Dina Percia hold space with prompts designed to meet you where you are, a brief candle-lighting ceremony, a somatic awareness meditation, and an optional sharing circle after the music. We invite you to be as you are and explore what arises in a compassionate, safe, and supportive setting.

To register, click HERE

About The Series

Befriending mortality can be seen as a spiritual quest, a psychological assignment, a philosophical riddle, or a culture-making undertaking. In this six-part series, we approach the fact of our deaths as a subject for learning. Dedicated to democratizing information and rebuilding our collective knowledge around how we care for our dying and our dead, each session engages poetry, stories, big questions, and nitty-gritty details. 

Sessions

(6) 90-minute online sessions from 5-6:30 pm PT, alternating Mondays on:

Sept 14, Sept 28, Oct 12, Oct 26, Nov 9, Nov 23

Session recordings and extensive resource materials are included. 

Cost

Early Bird: $175 - $350 sliding scale

General Admission: $195 - $375 sliding scale

To register, click HERE

Course Content

Befriending Mortality Sessions

Week 1: Befriending Mortality – What happens when we approach death as a teacher? Might we learn better how to care for the dying in our midst, to live in the presence of our mortality, to relate to our dead as something other than “lost,” and to die when it is our turn? Might grief be developed as a skill, not just suffered as an emotion? Could the skill of heartbrokenness be essential to the times we are in?

Week 2: Final Disposition – What will happen to your body when you die? What guides this decision? We will pull back the curtain on the full range of options, including how to detect greenwashing when it comes to technologies and products marketed as eco-friendly, including natural organic reduction (also known as human composting, terramation, and soil transformation) and alkaline hydrolysis (aquamation, or water or flameless cremation).

Week 3: The Dying Time – How do we support the dying in our midst? What supports might we want for our dying time? We’ll look at the landscape from diagnosis to death: palliative care and hospice; medical aid in dying (MAID), voluntary stopping eating and drinking (VSED), and other forms of “choice in dying”; assembling a care team and the role of an end-of-life doula; and the deaths that don’t go “according to plan.”

Week 4: From Death to Disposition  – Historically, care for the dead was handled by family and community – and legally, it is still our right to do so. But for many, our ancestral ways of caring for each other after death have been forgotten. We’ll review the aspects of deathcare now outsourced to professionals – bathing, dressing, and transporting the body; sourcing a casket, shroud, or urn; handling the paperwork – and consider the benefits of more hands-on engagement.

Week 5: Remembering Together – How do we honor and strengthen the continuity of relationships across the veil of life and death? We’ll consider inspiring examples of creative ceremonies of bereavement and remembrance, including meaningful funerals, living memorials, and “re-dos” of ceremonies that went wrong or never happened.

Week 6: Creating a Death Plan – Birth plans have been promoted as a way for expectant parents and their care team to clarify and communicate their values, needs, and preferences for both optimal and unforeseen scenarios. A written death plan can do the same. We’ll review all the elements you may want to consider: physical/medical, legal/logistical, emotional/spiritual, and social/cultural, across the time spectrum of before illness, during the dying process, and after death.

About Your Facilitator

An experienced and knowledgeable life passage guide, Holly J. Pruett helps individuals, families, and communities to prepare for, live with, and talk about death. Holly is professionally trained as a Life-Cycle Celebrant, Community Death Educator, Home Funeral Guide, and Death Doula, with two Proficiency Badges from the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance and certification in Thanatology from the Association for Death Education & Counseling. You can find Holly here: https://www.hollyjpruett.com

In online sessions for people grieving a loss, critically-acclaimed vibraphonist Chris Dingman plays evocative improvised music that guides an internal journey many have found comforting and healing. Creative writing specialist Dr. Debbie Bronkema and somatic therapist Dina Percia hold space with prompts designed to meet you where you are, a brief candle-lighting ceremony, a somatic awareness meditation, and an optional sharing circle after the music. We invite you to be as you are and explore what arises in a compassionate, safe, and supportive setting.

To register, click HERE

In online sessions for people grieving a loss, critically-acclaimed vibraphonist Chris Dingman plays evocative improvised music that guides an internal journey many have found comforting and healing. Creative writing specialist Dr. Debbie Bronkema and somatic therapist Dina Percia hold space with prompts designed to meet you where you are, a brief candle-lighting ceremony, a somatic awareness meditation, and an optional sharing circle after the music. We invite you to be as you are and explore what arises in a compassionate, safe, and supportive setting.

To register, click HERE

The Green Burial Council (GBC) advocates for environmentally sustainable death care through green burial. Our mission is to promote responsible, natural death care by providing education; ensuring that death care providers meet evolving ecological standards, and the public receives quality information on all the death care options available to them.

To register, click HERE

About Transformations journey sessions
Each session of Transformations features a new, improvised musical journey on vibraphone and voice, performed by me, Chris Dingman. Every journey is in the moment, responsive to those present, while holding space for you to explore what comes up through an internal journey facilitated and held by the music.

Zoom Link (the same every session):

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83686439990?pwd=VzVIVWQ5TkJuMW5USkU1ZjE1RHRzQT09
Meeting ID: 836 8643 9990
Passcode: 192689

In online sessions for people grieving a loss, critically-acclaimed vibraphonist Chris Dingman plays evocative improvised music that guides an internal journey many have found comforting and healing. Creative writing specialist Dr. Debbie Bronkema and somatic therapist Dina Percia hold space with prompts designed to meet you where you are, a brief candle-lighting ceremony, a somatic awareness meditation, and an optional sharing circle after the music. We invite you to be as you are and explore what arises in a compassionate, safe, and supportive setting.

To register, click HERE

The Green Burial Council (GBC) advocates for environmentally sustainable death care through green burial. Our mission is to promote responsible, natural death care by providing education; ensuring that death care providers meet evolving ecological standards, and the public receives quality information on all the death care options available to them.

To register, click HERE

In online sessions for people grieving a loss, critically-acclaimed vibraphonist Chris Dingman plays evocative improvised music that guides an internal journey many have found comforting and healing. Creative writing specialist Dr. Debbie Bronkema and somatic therapist Dina Percia hold space with prompts designed to meet you where you are, a brief candle-lighting ceremony, a somatic awareness meditation, and an optional sharing circle after the music. We invite you to be as you are and explore what arises in a compassionate, safe, and supportive setting.

To register, click HERE

In online sessions for people grieving a loss, critically-acclaimed vibraphonist Chris Dingman plays evocative improvised music that guides an internal journey many have found comforting and healing. Creative writing specialist Dr. Debbie Bronkema and somatic therapist Dina Percia hold space with prompts designed to meet you where you are, a brief candle-lighting ceremony, a somatic awareness meditation, and an optional sharing circle after the music. We invite you to be as you are and explore what arises in a compassionate, safe, and supportive setting.

To register, click HERE

In online sessions for people grieving a loss, critically-acclaimed vibraphonist Chris Dingman plays evocative improvised music that guides an internal journey many have found comforting and healing. Creative writing specialist Dr. Debbie Bronkema and somatic therapist Dina Percia hold space with prompts designed to meet you where you are, a brief candle-lighting ceremony, a somatic awareness meditation, and an optional sharing circle after the music. We invite you to be as you are and explore what arises in a compassionate, safe, and supportive setting.

To register, click HERE

Dates: 5/14, 5/28 and 6/11, 6/25

Time: 6-8:00 p.m. EST/3-5:00 p.m. PST

To register, click HERE

In her book, “Holding Space ~ On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go,” Amy Wright Glenn defines holding space as the capacity to bring compassionate presence to what is. The Holding Space Training is open to all and specifically designed for those in caretaking professions working with families, individuals, and communities facing grief.

It is more apparent than ever that the skill set central to holding space benefits everyone, not only doulas and mental health professionals. Being more adept at listening, being more comfortable with the uncomfortable, and being present to the heartbreak of grief support the continued emergence of compassionate presence in our world. Our study is centered upon deep inquiry and committed practice.

In our study, we consider:

*What does it mean to hold space?
*How can we strengthen our capacity to show up with compassion, especially when we are called to be present to grief?
*What specific skills strengthen our patience and capacity to listen?
*How do we hold space for our own failures, faults, and grief?
*How can we apply lessons drawn from holding space to our family lives, personal relationships, work/vocation, and connection to the mystery of life?

Join Amy Wright Glenn this fall for a transformative 12-hour training featuring 8-hours of live, online study (recorded for all participants) and 4 hours of holding space practice (the timing determined by participants).

We will draw upon the work of Alan Wolfelt, the founder of the Center for Loss and Life Transitions and combine it with the insights drawn from Amy’s work with birth & death presented in her book Holding Space.

Participants will practice key Holding Space skills and strengthen their capacity to show up to what it is with courage and compassion.

*Presented live via Zoom. Recorded for all participants.

We welcome you to join us this month for Transformations! 

June Schedule on Zoom

Monday, June 8th, 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm Eastern Time*
Tuesday June 23rd, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Eastern Time*
*Please adjust to your time zone accordingly

Zoom Link (the same every session):

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83686439990?pwd=VzVIVWQ5TkJuMW5USkU1ZjE1RHRzQT09
Meeting ID: 836 8643 9990
Passcode: 192689

About Transformations
For each Transformations session, a new, improvised musical journey on vibraphone and voice. Every session is in the moment, responsive to those present, while holding space for you to explore what comes up through an internal journey facilitated and held by the music.

The session includes an optional journal prompt from creative writing specialist and co-host Debbie Bronkema. This is time and space to experience, process, and let things come up, allowing an internal transformation to take place. After the journey, we hold a brief, optional sharing circle to process and integrate the experience. 

Headphones or a Bluetooth speaker are recommended but not required. Each session is offered free of charge thanks to grant funding and donations for the series. Transformations is presented by Connect Faith.

We also offer Transformations for Grief 3 times per month. For more information, please visit the program website.

Dates: 5/14, 5/28 and 6/11, 6/25

Time: 6-8:00 p.m. EST/3-5:00 p.m. PST

To register, click HERE

In her book, “Holding Space ~ On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go,” Amy Wright Glenn defines holding space as the capacity to bring compassionate presence to what is. The Holding Space Training is open to all and specifically designed for those in caretaking professions working with families, individuals, and communities facing grief.

It is more apparent than ever that the skill set central to holding space benefits everyone, not only doulas and mental health professionals. Being more adept at listening, being more comfortable with the uncomfortable, and being present to the heartbreak of grief support the continued emergence of compassionate presence in our world. Our study is centered upon deep inquiry and committed practice.

In our study, we consider:

*What does it mean to hold space?
*How can we strengthen our capacity to show up with compassion, especially when we are called to be present to grief?
*What specific skills strengthen our patience and capacity to listen?
*How do we hold space for our own failures, faults, and grief?
*How can we apply lessons drawn from holding space to our family lives, personal relationships, work/vocation, and connection to the mystery of life?

Join Amy Wright Glenn this fall for a transformative 12-hour training featuring 8-hours of live, online study (recorded for all participants) and 4 hours of holding space practice (the timing determined by participants).

We will draw upon the work of Alan Wolfelt, the founder of the Center for Loss and Life Transitions and combine it with the insights drawn from Amy’s work with birth & death presented in her book Holding Space.

Participants will practice key Holding Space skills and strengthen their capacity to show up to what it is with courage and compassion.

*Presented live via Zoom. Recorded for all participants.

We welcome you to join us this month for Transformations! 

June Schedule on Zoom

Monday, June 8th, 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm Eastern Time*
Tuesday June 23rd, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Eastern Time*
*Please adjust to your time zone accordingly

Zoom Link (the same every session):

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83686439990?pwd=VzVIVWQ5TkJuMW5USkU1ZjE1RHRzQT09
Meeting ID: 836 8643 9990
Passcode: 192689

About Transformations
For each Transformations session, a new, improvised musical journey on vibraphone and voice. Every session is in the moment, responsive to those present, while holding space for you to explore what comes up through an internal journey facilitated and held by the music.

The session includes an optional journal prompt from creative writing specialist and co-host Debbie Bronkema. This is time and space to experience, process, and let things come up, allowing an internal transformation to take place. After the journey, we hold a brief, optional sharing circle to process and integrate the experience. 

Headphones or a Bluetooth speaker are recommended but not required. Each session is offered free of charge thanks to grant funding and donations for the series. Transformations is presented by Connect Faith.

We also offer Transformations for Grief 3 times per month. For more information, please visit the program website.

Dates: 5/14, 5/28 and 6/11, 6/25

Time: 6-8:00 p.m. EST/3-5:00 p.m. PST

To register, click HERE

In her book, “Holding Space ~ On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go,” Amy Wright Glenn defines holding space as the capacity to bring compassionate presence to what is. The Holding Space Training is open to all and specifically designed for those in caretaking professions working with families, individuals, and communities facing grief.

It is more apparent than ever that the skill set central to holding space benefits everyone, not only doulas and mental health professionals. Being more adept at listening, being more comfortable with the uncomfortable, and being present to the heartbreak of grief support the continued emergence of compassionate presence in our world. Our study is centered upon deep inquiry and committed practice.

In our study, we consider:

*What does it mean to hold space?
*How can we strengthen our capacity to show up with compassion, especially when we are called to be present to grief?
*What specific skills strengthen our patience and capacity to listen?
*How do we hold space for our own failures, faults, and grief?
*How can we apply lessons drawn from holding space to our family lives, personal relationships, work/vocation, and connection to the mystery of life?

Join Amy Wright Glenn this fall for a transformative 12-hour training featuring 8-hours of live, online study (recorded for all participants) and 4 hours of holding space practice (the timing determined by participants).

We will draw upon the work of Alan Wolfelt, the founder of the Center for Loss and Life Transitions and combine it with the insights drawn from Amy’s work with birth & death presented in her book Holding Space.

Participants will practice key Holding Space skills and strengthen their capacity to show up to what it is with courage and compassion.

*Presented live via Zoom. Recorded for all participants.

The Green Burial Council (GBC) advocates for environmentally sustainable death care through green burial. Our mission is to promote responsible, natural death care by providing education; ensuring that death care providers meet evolving ecological standards, and the public receives quality information on all the death care options available to them.

To register, click HERE