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A community collaborative serving death workers and death-curious folks in the larger Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia region Issue #13, April 2026
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Hi everyone!✨Spring, is that you? There's a nest of baby birds tucked under my living room AC unit, and the sound — amplified through the architectural magic of that metal box — means that it sounds like I am essentially living in a menagerie. Neighbors are emerging with new babies, too. There are reports of friends fostering kittens. I love all of it. New life, celebrated from inside a death collective. Always. We've got a full season of gatherings ahead: a workshop in collaboration with local collage artist Ray Orr this week, The Silent Book Club of Death hosted in collaboration with Catherine of The Death Project Manager, a whole menu of death cafes, a nature walk, and a spring fair. Come be a mortal with us. Robin Miniter, Co-Founder of The DC Death Collective
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Ah, one of my favorite things we've done so far: this February, I played matchmaker with an event that I called Grave Encounters. Sixteen members filled out a short form telling me where they are in their practice, what kind of work pulls at them, and what kind of conversation they're hungry for right now — reflective, generative, practical, a little weird and exploratory. On Valentine's Day, people opened their inboxes to find someone waiting for them:
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Laura + Faith’s match notification — what happened next was up to them |
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The pairing logic mattered to me. I wasn't looking to connect people doing identical work — rather, I was looking for complementary orbits. That could look like someone deep in client-facing support matched with someone building systems. A ritual practitioner paired with an educator. An artist with an architect. The goal was one of my favorite flavors of conversation: the one where you realize the person across from you is wrestling with something adjacent to what you're wrestling with, and suddenly you're not working solo anymore.
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“I am relatively new to the DCDC community and this experience was the perfect way to meet new members and learn about their death aware work and interests. Laura Lyster-Mensch and I were a very good match! We spent a lovely time chatting at Teaism in Penn Quarter, discussing our backgrounds, plans, and work in the death and dying space. When we discussed death cafes, Laura mentioned the creation of a new volunteer role as a ‘death cafe specialist’ at the death cafes at The Historic Congressional Cemetery. The specialist serves as a helper to Laura as she leads the cafe - welcoming guests, assisting with clean up after the cafe, etc. I jumped at the chance to help out and volunteered twice in April and plan to help out in June. Count me in for any future death aware matchmaking events with DCDC! I am a hospice volunteer with Goodwin Living in northern Virginia and a member of the Threshold Singers of Washington, DC. Currently completing coursework on topics related to death and dying. Future plans include facilitating workshops that promote deep reflection and compassionate conversations on aging, death, and dying. Details to come later this summer!” -Faith San Felice |
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Death work is isolating in ways that sneak up on you. Part of what DCDC is here to do is tend to the connective tissue of this community — not just the big public-facing stuff, but the quieter work of making sure practitioners actually know each other. Laura writes:
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”I loved the place and getting to know Faith one-on-one. We talked about death, our death work, and the city. Since then we’ve been in touch and collaborating on death cafes together. I am grateful for this unique and delightful way to get to know another person in the DC Death Collective community more personally, and I look forward to knowing and supporting one another!”
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Most of our matches have reported back. And what happens next is up to them — and I can't wait to hear about it! -Robin
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✨Sandwiches and Cemeteries✨by Laura Lyster-Mensh, DCDC Steering Committee Member I spend a lot of time in cemeteries. Mostly one, these days: Congressional Cemetery which is in my neighborhood. I volunteer there in many capacities, including the Adopt-A-Plot gardening team, events, and hosting death cafes. In late 2025 I realized that as much as I have learned about Congressional, I have still not even been to most of the cemeteries in DC. I decided to make a project of it, which I’m calling “Sandwiches in Cemeteries.” My goal is to set foot in all of the two dozen or so cemeteries and burial grounds in the year of 2026.
I’m making a ritual of it, which is a very death doula way to go about things. One, I bring a sandwich. Two, I bring all my senses: sight, sound, feel, smell, and with the sandwich I add taste. I also carry a small container of dirt, from which I always leave a pinch at the cemetery I visit and take a pinch. By the end of the year I will be carrying the mingling of dirt connecting all the cemeteries. Included in my spreadsheet of cemeteries are half a dozen that no longer hold bodies. Holmead's Burying Ground is now Dupont Circle. Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station used to be Columbian Harmony Cemetery. I’m visiting the ghosted cemeteries, too. Some places I visit on my own, and sometimes with others. I share my sandwiches. I am not doing them in any particular order, or scheduling far in advance, but if you want to meet me at one, email me and I’ll keep you in the loop, or invite me to your favorite! Laura is a co-founder of The DC Death Collective and Death Doula in Residence at the Historic Congressional Cemetery. Among many other things, she’s a rabid tap dance enthusiast.
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✨WHAT WE’RE READING✨by Ali Brill, DCDC Steering Committee Member
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"What would you change if you could travel back in time?" Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
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A small Tokyo café allows customers to travel back in time — but only while sitting in one specific seat, only to moments that occurred in the café itself, and only for as long as their coffee stays hot. Four customers use this bittersweet opportunity to revisit conversations they wish had gone differently, each discovering that while the past can't be changed, the journey still transforms them.
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✨DID YOU KNOW THAT THE DCDC HAS A MEMBERSHIP OPTION?✨Our supporting members are a growing community of people in the DC area who volunteer or work or have interest in death care. We are death doulas, officiants, grief guides, morticians, cemeterians, mediums, and even a death poet. We get together in person and online, are continuing to design ways to build together. One of the benefits of supporting membership is visibility on our website directory.
Please e-mail us for a link to our supporting membership form. We recommend a contribution of $20 per year, though no one will be turned away due to financial circumstances.
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The selection of events below is hosted by DCDC members. For our full, more broad-reaching community calendar, head on over to our website.
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[THIS WEEK]💛 Still With Us: A collage workshop for memory and remembrance | Saturday, April 18, 2026 | 1:00PM-3:00PM📍 Living Room, 3169 Mount Pleasant Street NW, Washington, DC This gentle collage workshop, facilitated by collage artist Ray Orr, invites you to honor and remember someone you love who has passed. Participants are encouraged to bring a photograph of their loved one and/or paper ephemera that belonged to them or evokes their memory. While the experience is personal, you’ll be creating alongside others in a quiet community, with no pressure to share. No prior art experience is needed. Tickets are available here, with a $5 discount for DCDC members
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MULTIPLE DEATH CAFÉ OFFERINGS 💛 Deathy DC: A Death & Grief Café | Sunday, April 26, 2026 | 2:00PM-3:30PM📍 MLK Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St NW, Washington, DC. Hosted by DCDC member and full spectrum doula, Lolonyo Carter. RSVP here. 💛 Conversations Over Cake | Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 | 6:00PM-7:00PM 📍 Arlington Public Library, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Arlington, VA. Hosted by DCDC member Stephanie Dillemuth. Register here. 💛 Death Café at All Souls Unitarian Church | Sunday, May 3rd, 2026| 12:10–1:30 PM 📍 1500 Harvard Street NW. Join DCDC steering committee member Leslie Tolf for a monthly cafe gathering. You can find more information here.
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💛 Spring Fair at Historic Congressional Cemetery | Sunday, April 26, 2026 | 11:00AM-4:00PM📍 Historic Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E St SE, Washington, DC Meet DC Death Collective members at our table at the annual Spring Fair at Historic Congressional Cemetery! Vendors and activities. Free entry. More information here.
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💛 Demystify Death Nature Walk | Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3:00 PM-4:30PM | Glencarlyn Park, 301 South Harrison Street, Arlington, VA Join DCDC member and death doula Kristen P. Patterson of Sacred Journey Death Doula and a small group for an intimate walk in nature where we will connect the seasons of our lives with the seasons. We will contemplate our mortality through mindful observation of the natural world and gentle reflections, opening our hearts to wonder and joy. You can register here.
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💛 DC Death Collective Virtual Check-In | Sunday, May 3, 2026 | 6:00 PM | Google Meet link, no RSVP necessary A gentle, monthly drop-in. Come say hi. Bring your thoughts, questions, or just your face. Whether you’re knee-deep in this work or quietly circling it, this is a space to connect, reflect, and be in community
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💛 Silent Book Club of Death | Saturday, May 9, 2026| 1:00 PM-3:00PM📍 MLK Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St NW, Washington, DC | Free! Collaborating with a special guest, Catherine — aka the Death Project Manager — for this fan-favorite, parallel-play event! RSVP here.
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✨NOW FOR SALE: DCDC MERCH! ✨
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