Peaceful Presence End-of-Life Doulas have been present for hundreds of deaths, both professionally and personally. We have over 30 years combined experience as nurses, facilitators, and educators. We would be honored to partner with you so that you may feel more comfortable with serious illness and death: your own or your family member's.
The art of dying well carries universal qualities that transcend our differences and are true for ALL people. As end of life doulas our role is to honor and celebrate the dying rites of every culture and tradition. We meet you where you are, exactly as you are. And when we don't have the answers, we are committed to doing everything we can to seek out additional resources to support you in living well, aging well and dying well.
The Peaceful Presence Project
CO-FOUNDERS
Erin Collins, Program Director
Elizabeth Johnson, Executive Director
Kari Sims Anthon, Program Manager
OUR STAFF
Erin Collins MNe RN CHPN RYT
Co-founder & Program Director, NEDA-Proficient End-Of-life Doula
2022 Cambia health Foundation Sojourns Scholar
Erin is a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse with 16 years of nursing experience in hospice and adult and pediatric oncology. Trained as an End-of-Life Doula, her heart’s work is in end-of-life care. Erin is the Vice-Chair of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Oregon Hospice and Palliative Care Association.
She co-founded The Peaceful Presence Project after seeing that many patients came to hospice afraid of death and largely unprepared for it. She is committed to educating the community at all levels, including individuals, families, students and clinicians in preparing for and talking about serious and terminal illness with compassion and tenderness. She empowers families to be present with their loved ones in the final stage of life, however long that may be, and believes that by talking about and planning for death with our loved ones, we can ease much of the suffering that arises at the end of life.
end of life nursing education consortium (ELNEC):
core and communication trainer
bedside yoga for end of life care provider
member of NEDA, INELDA, NHPCO, coaliton to transform advanced illness care
Graduate of the Being with Dying Program
at Upaya Zen Center
Elizabeth Johnson, ma
Co-founder & Executive Director, NEDA-Proficient end-of-life doula
With a master's degree in Community and Urban Planning, Elizabeth has traveled the globe as an educator and facilitator, awakening her fascination with the cultural and social contexts that shape human understandings of illness, grief and death. One of her formative experiences includes working in the mid-90’s as a volunteer at Kalighat, a community-based hospice for the sick, destitute and the dying in Kolkata, India.
She is a member of the Public Health Palliative Care International leadership council, as well as a board member for the Central Oregon Council on Aging. She is also a former member of the Board of Directors for the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance and co-led their Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is passionate about integrating death literacy initiatives in local communities and encouraging honest dialogue around the complexities of the dying process.
Graduate of the Anamcara Project, with a focus on grief, loss and resiliency
Certified Advance Care Planning Educator for the Institute on Health Care Directives.
Graduate of the Being with Dying Program
at Upaya Zen Center
certified pregnancy loss group facilitator
Member of NEDA, INELDA, coalition to transform advanced illness care
Kari Sims Anthon C-IAYT, ERYT-500 YACEP
co-founder & Program Manager, NEDA-proficient End-of-life doula
Kari is honored to hold space for others as they live fully while stepping into their final stages of life. Kari had the sacred privilege of helping both of her parents through their respective cancer journeys and end of life care 15 years apart and has been sharing the teachings of yoga for over 2 decades.
Kari is trained as an end-of-life doula with Peaceful Presence and also earned an End-of-Life Doula Professional Certificate from the University of Vermont Larner School of Medicine. She is a Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists, a featured teacher on YogaAnytime.com and the founder/director of Life.Love.Yoga. in Sisters, Oregon since 2009.
Member of the Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath and Death
Graduate of the Being with Dying Program
at Upaya Zen Center
Member of NEDA, INELDA
LINDSAY COMPTON
Program Coordinator, NEDA-proficient End-of-life doula
Lindsay came to find her passion in end-of-life care while bearing witness to her father’s decline into dementia with Lewy Bodies. She found that no one, including herself, was prepared for the emotional journey and practical responsibilities that lie ahead. She knew there had to be a better path, and wanted to learn how to best support those within her immediate circle, as well as the wider community, when facing terminal illness, death, and grief. This led her to participate in The Peaceful Presence Project’s Rural Oregon Professional Presence End of Life Doula Training, where a new purpose for learning and education was brought to life.
During Lindsay’s previous career as a public school teacher, Lindsay was passionate about ensuring that kids felt seen, loved, and heard. Now, as an end-of-life doula and hospice volunteer, her mission is to be with the dying and their families, showing the same focus with attentive care and compassion.
