At The Center for Refuge, we offer support at the intersections of grief, legacy, and end-of-life. Whether you are facing the death of a loved one, planning ahead for your own final days, or seeking to preserve the sacred stories of a life lived, you do not have to do it alone.
This is a place where sorrow is honored, decisions are made with compassion, and stories are held with care. We believe in creating safety—emotional, spiritual, and practical—so that you can move through life’s most tender transitions with clarity, dignity, and companionship.
The Center for Refuge is not a place of fixing or rushing. It is a place to slow down, be witnessed, and begin again.
Through use of the end of life doula model, we offer grief support, education around end of life issues and provide resources, both print and digital, that are meant to help individuals in their journey through grief.
Our mission is simple: to companion the grieving. To support those who are hurting. And to cause as little harm as possible in the process.
The Center for Refuge believes that people need safety and security while they grieve and while they die. Not only is there a fear of death but also fear being forgotten. We exist to alleviate grief, death & legacy anxieties by providing shelter, celebrating your life’s story and supporting you at the end of it.
The Center for Refuge offers holistic support for individuals and families navigating grief, legacy, and end-of-life planning. Through our three core services—End Well, Beyond Morning, and The Loss Library—we provide compassionate guidance for those preparing for death, preserving the stories that matter most, and learning to live with loss. Grounded in safety, dignity, and presence, we create space for reflection, meaning-making, and healing at life’s most vulnerable thresholds.
End-of-Life Planning and Consulting
For individuals and families preparing for the end of life, End Well offers guidance, education, and support. From advance care planning to meaningful conversations about dying, this service helps you approach the end with courage, clarity, and intention.
Services include:
Advance directives & goals-of-care planning
End-of-life consulting for families and individuals
Vigil planning and compassionate presence
Legacy Preservation and Story Studio
Beyond Morning is where memory meets meaning. Through memoir writing, audio storytelling, and legacy projects, we help individuals preserve their stories before they are gone—and help families honor the lives of those they’ve lost.
Services include:
Memoir and legacy writing
Audio storytelling and life interviews
Books, Podcasts, and Grief Resources
The Loss Library is the public-facing resource arm of The Center for Refuge. It offers books, reflections, podcasts, and curated tools to support those living with grief. It is a growing archive of shared sorrow and collective wisdom.
Offerings include:
Grief-centered books and journals
Podcasts and audio storytelling
Writing prompts, reflections, and grief toolkits
A platform for publishing grief narratives
*Note: This service is the collection of all resources, written, audio and otherwise offered by The Center for Refuge. You can find this on a separate page on the main navigation menu.*
As long as I can remember I have been a writer. I began my professional career in 2005, working in the field of memoir, life review, death and grief. I have written over 30 books on behalf of others. Under my own name I wrote the book Write Until You Feel Better and the forthcoming In Rememberance and On Blood & Water.
In 2019 I added the role of end-of-life doula to my work life after training with the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA). That same year, I founded Beyond Morning, LLC, offering end-of-life doula and memoir writing services to the terminally ill and elderly. I also serve as a Holding Space Consultant in Training and Death Study Circle Facilitator with the Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath and Death.
