Planning is power, planning is peace

“Planning is Power, Planning is Peace”, an interactive end-of-life planning workshop series run by People of Color for People of Color. Participants will work with a collection of POC death doulas, end-of-life planners, financial planners, and more to address the practical, emotional, community, and cultural components of aging, dying, and grief.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

We know that planning for the end-of-life can positively impact individuals and their families in so many ways. It can reduce the burden of decision making after someone dies, leaving folks to be more attentive to their grief. It can reduce . And it can break cycles of

This group experience is intended to bring together a collection of experts from the death, grief, finance, healthcare, and wellness fields to support People of Color in planning, knowing, and healing.

  • The practical: Actions, takeaways, and planning

    Each participant will walk away from this workshop series with concrete plans for how they want to be cared for at the end of their lives - by medical institutions, deathcare workers, family, friends, community, and more.

    Our collection of doulas, end-of-life planners, financial planners will host interactive workshops for folks to discuss their desires, define their wishes, and put their plans on paper.

    This includes but is not limited to Advanced Directives, wills and trusts, end-of-life plans, funeral planning, grief care plans, spiritual wishes.

  • The emotional: Exploring our relationship to grief and mortality

    In addition to the practical, these workshops will cover an introduction to the concepts of death, dying, mortality, and grief. We’ll collectively explore how the wider culture meets death and grief, as well as how each participant specifically relates to death and grief in their personal lives and families.

    Sessions will focus on ensuring that each participant examines the emotional and mental impacts of aging, dying, death, and grief - on them, their current or future caregivers, their children, and their wider connections.

  • The community: Intergenerational connections

    This program is designed to not only support the folks who participate directly, but it is also built to invite participants into conversations with their caregivers, children, parents, older generations, community members, and more. This planning and care for oneself cannot be done in a silo - plans made must be spoken about, emotional journeys much be shared.

    Our facilitators and team will guide folks through the practice of being with family, friends, and community around their wishes, with special attention to cultural and identity-based complexities related to death, dying, grief, and mental health.

ACTIVITIES

 

A series of workshops will include the following:

  • Facilitated and interactive educational sessions with practitioners from the end-of-life and grief fields

  • Discussion space for the participants to talk amongst each other, as well as with caregivers/guests that they invite into the space

  • 1-1 meetings between participants and the practitioners facilitating the program

  • Integrated moments of rest and self-care practices (healing sessions and wellness activities)

  • Nourishment for the body while we work the mind (communal meals)

Our goal is to create an experience that directly reflects and uniquely supports the needs of our participants.

Programming topics

  • Understanding death, dying, and mortality through a cultural lens

  • Understanding grief and bereavement through a cultural lens

  • How grief and death impact emotional, physical, and mental wellness

  • Financial planning for end-of-life

  • Generational wealth

  • Funeral and memorial wishes

  • Spiritual roles and support

  • Healthcare and medical decisions to be made

  • Conversations with family, friends, and community

 

GOALS

For the participants

  • Increase each individual’s understanding of medical, financial, funeral/memorial, and general end-of-life planning decisions to be made (asking the question: “What might I be able to arrange now that will ease my stress and reduce burden for my family, friends, and caregivers?”)

  • Inform participants about the impacts of aging, illness, and death on caregivers and support systems (asking the question: “How might my planning result in a better experience for the folks who are supporting me at end-of-life?”)

  • Facilitate space (as desired) for each participant to activate 2-3 conversations with their immediate circle of friends, family, and/or community (asking the question: “What conversations might be useful now and how do I have them?”)

For the field

  • Partner with 24+ existing facilitators, doulas, practitioners and institutions currently offering culturally-informed materials related to death, dying, and grief

  • Expand the network of POC providers who are collaborating, in community with, and supporting each other

  • Define a model for serving the public with a centralized experience (bringing the practitioners to them and reducing coordination)

Interested in supporting?

  • Partner

    We are currently seeking partners to facilitate portions of the programming, to be part of our expansion strategy, and to connect us with even more incredible ideas for how to serve folks best.

  • Sponsor

    We are currently seeking sponsors to support this programming. To view a deck detailing various sponsorship opportunities, please click here or get in touch.

  • Share

    Do you think this would be a useful experience for your staff, colleagues grantees, or clients to have? We are working with LA-based community partners. to promote this opportunity.

Contact

Alica Forneret
Founder and Executive Director

hello@timetopause.org