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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 mostly outsourced to professionals – bathing, dressing, and transporting the body; sourcing a casket, shroud or urn; handling the paperwork; arranging for final disposition and any ceremony – and consider the benefits of more hands-on engagement.

Presented by Holly Pruett. Holly works with families and communities to create unique, personalized ceremonies that support bereavement and remembrance, including advising families who wish to care for their dead at home. Holly is professionally trained as a Life-Cycle Celebrant, Home Funeral Guide, and End-of-Life Doula; certified as NEDA Proficient by the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, and in Thanatology by the Association for Death Education & Counseling. Holly has provided community deathcare education and consulting services for more than a decade as the co-creator of Oregon Funeral Resources & Education, a non-commercial website informing Oregonians of legal rights and resources when death occurs; the founder of the Death Talk Project and PDX Death Café; and as a facilitator with Oregon Humanities’ Talking About Dying conversation program. For 30 years she served the community through local, state, and national non-profit organizations as a community organizer, executive director, and consultant advancing LGBTQ and women’s rights and racial, social, and environmental justice.

Wheelchair accessible. Free and open to the Public.