You just became a trained death doula, now what? How do you get your business to grow? By starting to create trust in your community. If you have ever experienced the death of a loved one, you know how important end-of-life care is, or you felt the absence of any support. 84% of people living in Canada do not have access to palliative care or an equitable death. We know that expected death is on the rise, and our medical infrastructure cannot withstand the storm to come.
What would be a solid way to show that you are committed to your new path as a death doula? There is one great way and that is to join HHA’s annual fundraising event: The Moonlit Memory Walk on October 17th, 2024. The theme is “Remembering that they lived, not how they died.” Participants register to walk and can create their own fundraising page to share their story of the person they are walking for. We are looking to raise money for the work we are doing so we can send our trained professional doulas in our communities to help alleviate the financial pressure felt while grieving. Our goal is to raise $50,000.00. Meeting this goal will help us care for more than 2000 individuals at their most vulnerable time of their life.
Understanding how the 5 buckets can work for you is an amazing way to launch the start of your doula business. Here are the 5 buckets in no particular order sales & marketing, networking, community outreach, pro bono and paid clients.
Let me explain.
The outcome is to have a paid stream of income coming into your business, but you have to start somewhere and leveraging with HHA gives you a platform you do not have to recreate. Successful businesses use systems of duplication all the time. In fact, it is often the foundation. Reinventing the wheel can take lots of work, time, and money, especially when you do not half to. You could partner with HHA who has already created a successful path, and by using their tools alongside their reputation it can help you with your own success. HHA already has set up The Moonlit Memory Walk. They have a team behind the scenes that has created a system that is ready for you. They have created marketing tools to use. This is where the community outreach comes in. You can share face to face, social media, emails, and networking with other professionals. This is a great way to get your name out. Build a relationship your community so they recognize your face and who you are, especially what you represent.
Home Hospice Association is a Canadian Registered Charity. We believe that end-of-life care is a social justice issue not just a medical one. Since 2017 we have been filling in the gaps by training HHA death doulas and infant and pregnancy loss doulas. Our program has trained over 500 doulas with more enrolments currently filling up across Canada. Our trained professionals also play a large role in death education through programs such as Death Cafés, Creating Awareness and Normalizing Death for Youth (C.A.N.D.Y Café’s), Our Babies Our Grief. Since 2017 we have hosted over 5,000 participants in these programs. We strive for equity of access and have initiated 3 pilot programs to remove barriers to end-of-life care for marginalized communities- disabled population, houseless hospice, and prison hospice. Here is where the pro bono work comes in by helping HHA market and promote and event like this.
When you host a walk, not only are you making an essential contribution to HHA’s big-picture mission and vision to support anyone, at any time, of any age, under any roof, but you also have the chance to directly impact the availability of compassionate end-of-life care and support in your very own community. That’s because, as the Host of your walking location, you have the opportunity to designate where your location's fundraising dollars will go. Growing your doula business partnered with HHA is a solid start to growing yourself in your community.
I believe that doulas may become the most important role in the death industry. We have a specialized skill set that is absolutely missing. Our capacity to be their heart to heart with our clients when they feel lost in the system is a position in their life unclaimed by the medical system. Can you just imagine the sacred power of everyone walking with you, lighting their candle saying who they are walking for. As a group we can create this magical experience. Bringing community together to learn how to grieve in….ceremony and silence. The world may keep on spinning but knowing that we can take the time to stop and remember. Remember who they were, how they lived.
For more information, please visit www.moonlitmemorywalk.org
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Maleah Bajich is a Reiki Master Teacher, Ritual Practitioner, Massage Therapist, and a death doula through Home Hospice Association. You can find more information about Maleah at www.findingrealm.com
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