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Calm Sea

Mission & Team

Our Mission

Florida End-of-Life Doula Alliance (FEOLDA) creates educational resources and promotes collaboration among end-of-life doulas, related professionals, and advocates across Florida. Through this work, FEOLDA advances understanding of doula-supported, non-medical care, advocacy, and compassionate support for people at the end of life and those who care for them.

End-of-Life Doulas understand many aspects of the end of life process and can help to transform it into an experience that has comfort, meaning and a quality of sacredness.

We are trained End-of-Life Doulas in Florida who have come together with a shared passion for providing support, guidance, and end-of-life care to the people of Florida. We strive to connect and educate End-of-Life Practitioners, provide a variety of resources, and lessen the suffering around the experience of end-of-life care. 

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Board President, Treasurer and FEOLDA Founder

Shanti Vani  Gainesville, FL

Owner and founder of Transforming Grief, LLC. Shanti provides education and support around grief, trauma and loss.

Individual and group programs are offered, with an emphasis on supporting those who support fellow grievers.

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Board Secretary

Meghan Maher Windermere, FL

A certified end-of-life doula in south-central Florida, Meghan provides non-judgmental support to the dying and their loved ones through individualized services, including emotional, spiritual, practical, and educational support.

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Board Vice President

Kristine Kopperud  Dunnellon, FL

A native of the Midwest with deep roots in the Mountain West, Kristine became a resident of Florida in 2022 and serves as a  writer/creative specializing in legacy projects. Through a series of serendipitous mentorships (the universe provides!) she has trained in civic mindfulness practice, narrative medicine techniques, and end-of-life advocacy and care as a doula. Read more about her (and link to published work) at her site, below. 

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Board Member

Chris Eaton  New Port Richey, FL

Chris Eaton is a Death Doula, ordained minister, author, speaker, veteran, and co-owner of Trinity Yoga Wellness Center in the Greater Tampa Bay area. His work centers on end-of-life education, spiritual care, grief and loss, conscious living, and helping individuals and communities become more comfortable having meaningful conversations about mortality.

His work is guided by a simple philosophy:

“I sit with the dying. I walk with the living.”

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Board Member

Lara Acemyan Lake Worth, FL

Lara is a certified end-of-life doula committed to compassionate, holistic support for the dying and their loved ones. She offers emotional presence, practical guidance, and deep listening to help create a peaceful, values-honoring environment. Guided by a desire to serve during life’s most tender moments, Lara considers it a true privilege to walk alongside individuals and families in their final chapter.

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Board Member

Breanna Williams, Jacksonville, FL

Breanna has more than 12 years of experience in the funeral and death care profession and is a licensed Funeral Director in multiple states. As a certified doula, grief coach, and ICCFA Cremation Specialist, she offers compassionate guidance and support to families before, during, and after the end-of-life process. She is the author of an end-of-life planner, designed to help families navigate funeral planning, terminology, and important resources with clarity and confidence.

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Past Board Member

Lynn Principe  Dunedin, FL

Lynn is a Death Doula, Conscious Dying Coach, Educator and Independent Funeral Celebrant. Her passion for regarding death as a sacred rite of passage has brought her to the bedside to walk with dying people and their families since 2007, to become a Doula Educator and Mentor for the Conscious Dying Institute  and a speaker to initiate important end-of-life conversations.

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Past Board Member

Shelly Schlachter  Largo, FL

Shelly is a Certified Professional Birth Labor Doula, Sacred Passage End of Life Doula, Conscious Dying Coach, Reiki and Divine Energy Channel.

Her passion lies in the Energy Healing Arts to replenish and rejuvenate the mind, body, and soul in preparation for the transformation death offers. Through years of training and spiritual practice, she offers mindfulness techniques, energy healing, advocacy, traditional doula care, and conscious dying coaching for a heart centered approach to death.

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Past Board Member

Terry Carretta  N. Palm Beach, FL

Terry provides services for anyone who wants to consciously transition into their end-of-life process.
 

Her emphasis is on compassionate bedside vigiling centered around the client's specific cultural and spiritual traditions.

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Past Board Member 

Charon Collier  Jacksonville, FL

Founder of The Good Death Experience. Charon provides End-of-Life Doula training and certification based on her "Good Death Experience" philosophy. Additionally, she offers mentorship and coaching to doulas, supporting them in identifying their unique brands for building a strong end-of-life doula business.

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Past Board Member

Keeley Ward  Ormond Beach, FL

Compassion Coach, Sacred Passage Doula, and Grief Educator,

Keeley 1-1 coaching and online grief support groups, utilizing the Grief Recovery Method. She specializes in comfort care to the dying and their families.​

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Past Board Member

William Heath  Gainesville, FL

Licensed Funeral Director and End-of-Life Concierge. William guides clients toward rituals and ceremonies that speak to that which is meaningful and comforting to them and reflects the traditions that they hold close to. An enthusiastic proponent of alternative disposition options, William speaks to groups about available options.

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