C-TAC Member Spotlight: The Peaceful Presence Project

We provide non-medical, thoughtful support to people facing serious and terminal illness. Our end-of-life doulas are highly trained and have passed the proficiency testing established by the National End of Life Doula Alliance. 

We are guiding communities to reimagine how they live well by encouraging discussion around advanced illness care and the dying process. We assist with the facilitation of plans for the last stages of life, and offer compassionate presence during the final months, weeks, or days of life.

As a registered 501-c(3) nonprofit organization, we are passionate about providing support to every member of the community who desires our services, and are dependent upon our  generous donors in order to make this a reality. We are working hard to ensure that our services are inclusive and available to every member of the community by collaborating with partner nonprofits who focus on decreasing health disparities and improving access to healthcare services.

We believe that the end-of-life doula model of care can bring a complementary layer of support into the existing hospice and palliative care system. Just as birth doulas have become an accepted, beneficial and welcome addition to maternity care, end-of-life doulas should be seen as partners in improving serious and terminal illness care.

“It matters how you die. It matters that people feel empowered and informed. And it matters that you are supported in a really intentional way,” says Elizabeth Johnson, Executive Director of The Peaceful Presence Project.

Elizabeth is a member of the Board of Directors and the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee of the National End of Life Doula Alliance. NEDA works to inspire positive, creative change in American death practices by creating high standards, ethical and practical guidelines, and rich networking opportunities for all EOLDs, resulting in meaningful experiences for the dying, their caregivers, and the agencies involved.

Founder and Program Director Erin Collins, BSN RN CHPN saw a need in the patient population for upstream consideration of mortality. “I found that my patients were coming to hospice care afraid of death, and largely unprepared for it. This created a level of suffering that I could no longer stand by and not respond to.”

Collins is an ELNEC Trainer and is pursuing a Masters Degree in Nursing Education. She is directing the development of clinical and community education programs that incorporate evidence-based principles of palliative nursing, advance care planning and the end-of-life doula model of care.

In addition to education and planning services, The Peaceful Presence Project is cultivating relationships with local and national organizations with the intention of bringing the Compassionate Communities Model of death literacy and community support to the United States. We invite interested organizations to visit our website for more information and to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.