Gatherings + Events
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🖤 the dc death collective special event
💡 member event
✨ friend of the dc death collective event
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🖤 Grieving Over the Holidays: A DCDC Webinar
Join us for "Grieving Over the Holidays," a webinar designed to support individuals navigating loss during this emotionally challenging time of year. Discover practical strategies, share in a supportive community, and find ways to honor your feelings. Together, we'll explore paths to healing and resilience amidst the holiday season.
Please get in touch with Leslie at leslieatolf@gmail.com with any questions. Register here. Free.
🖤 DC Death Collective Virtual Check-In
Sunday, December 7, 2025 | 5:00–5:30 PM | Meeting room 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
💡Death Cafe at All Souls Unitarian Church
Sunday, December 7th, 2025 | 12:10–1:30 PM | 1500 Harvard Street NW
Join DCDC steering committee member Leslie Tolf for the newly launched cafe gathering ~ email her to register.
💡Memento Mori Book Club (Location #2): Rehearsals for Dying: Digressions on Love and Cancer by Ariel Gore (DC)
Interested in building community around our shared mortality? Join us every other month for casual, thoughtful conversation about death, dying, grief—and ultimately, life. Guided by rotating readings, these gatherings are hosted by death doula Ali Brill on the last Thursday of every other month. RSVP here!
📍Kbird DC, 1333 P St NW, Washington, DC
✨ Death Cafe at Congressional Cemetery
December 4th, 2025 | 6:00–7:30 PM
An intimate monthly gathering to talk openly about death over tea and sweets. There’s no agenda—just space to be curious, contemplative, and in conversation. These Cafes are part of a global movement to demystify and destigmatize death through community dialogue.
Facilitated by a rotating crew of regional volunteers, each Death Cafe is gently held in a spirit of presence and privacy. Our Death Doula in Residence, Laura Lyster-Mensh, represents the Cemetery at these events.
Free to attend. You're welcome to bring something to share—tea, sweets, or a small donation (suggested $5) to support event costs.
Due to space limits, please reserve your seat in advance. To join the waitlist or ask questions, email Laura
📍The Historic Congressional Cemetery Chapel, 1801 E St SE, Washington, DC
✨ Death Cafe at Congressional Cemetery
Thursday December 4th, 2025 | 6:00–7:30 PM
An intimate monthly gathering to talk openly about death over tea and sweets. There’s no agenda—just space to be curious, contemplative, and in conversation. These Cafes are part of a global movement to demystify and destigmatize death through community dialogue.
Facilitated by a rotating crew of regional volunteers, each Death Cafe is gently held in a spirit of presence and privacy. Our Death Doula in Residence, Laura Lyster-Mensh, represents the Cemetery at these events.
Free to attend. You're welcome to bring something to share—tea, sweets, or a small donation (suggested $5) to support event costs.
Due to space limits, please reserve your seat in advance. To join the waitlist or ask questions, email Laura
📍The Historic Congressional Cemetery Chapel, 1801 E St SE, Washington, DC
💡Memento Mori Book Club (Location #1): Rehearsals for Dying: Digressions on Love and Cancer by Ariel Gore (MD)
Interested in building community around our shared mortality? Join us every other month for casual, thoughtful conversation about death, dying, grief — and ultimately, life. Guided by rotating readings, these gatherings are hosted by death doula Ali Brill on the last Thursday (DC) and Sunday (MD) of every other month.
📍People’s Book, 7014 Westmoreland Ave Suite A, Takoma Park, MD (RSVP here)
🖤 The DC Death Collective Monthly Happy Hour
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 | 6:30–8:30 PM | KBird DC, 1333 P St NW
Come join us in Logan Circle for a get together ~ let’s put some names to faces! Bring your curiosity, bring a friend, bring yourself. All are welcome.
💡Finding Your Humor In Grief's Shadow
In our culture, grief is expected to be somber and isolating – a solitary burden that keeps us disconnected from our full humanity. These cultural expectations often prevent true healing and trap people in prolonged suffering. This workshop, lead by DCDC member Mary Jo Neil, challenges these harmful norms by giving participants explicit permission to explore how humor and joy can serve as powerful coping mechanisms alongside their grief. While grief can create chronic stress, depression, and physical illness – humor and joy offer a healthy counterbalance. They reduce stress hormones, lift our spirits, enhance recovery, and most importantly, connect us to one another during our most vulnerable times.
Head on over to this link to learn more.
💡 Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead
Join us for an extraordinary celebration of Día de los Muertos at Historic Congressional Cemetery. In collaboration with special guest and Capitol Hill resident, Rosa Moreno, and Death Doula-in-Residence, Laura Lyster-Mensh, we will transform the chapel in the center of our grounds into a place of learning, remembrance, community gathering, and celebration of the “Day of the Dead.”
Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E Street, Southeast Washington, DC 20003
💡Finding Your Humor In Grief's Shadow
In our culture, grief is expected to be somber and isolating – a solitary burden that keeps us disconnected from our full humanity. These cultural expectations often prevent true healing and trap people in prolonged suffering. This workshop, lead by DCDC member Mary Jo Neil, challenges these harmful norms by giving participants explicit permission to explore how humor and joy can serve as powerful coping mechanisms alongside their grief. While grief can create chronic stress, depression, and physical illness – humor and joy offer a healthy counterbalance. They reduce stress hormones, lift our spirits, enhance recovery, and most importantly, connect us to one another during our most vulnerable times.
Head on over to this link to learn more.
💡Finding Your Humor In Grief's Shadow
In our culture, grief is expected to be somber and isolating – a solitary burden that keeps us disconnected from our full humanity. These cultural expectations often prevent true healing and trap people in prolonged suffering. This workshop, lead by DCDC member Mary Jo Neil, challenges these harmful norms by giving participants explicit permission to explore how humor and joy can serve as powerful coping mechanisms alongside their grief. While grief can create chronic stress, depression, and physical illness – humor and joy offer a healthy counterbalance. They reduce stress hormones, lift our spirits, enhance recovery, and most importantly, connect us to one another during our most vulnerable times.
Head on over to this link to learn more.
💡Finding Your Humor In Grief's Shadow
In our culture, grief is expected to be somber and isolating – a solitary burden that keeps us disconnected from our full humanity. These cultural expectations often prevent true healing and trap people in prolonged suffering. This workshop, lead by DCDC member Mary Jo Neil, challenges these harmful norms by giving participants explicit permission to explore how humor and joy can serve as powerful coping mechanisms alongside their grief. While grief can create chronic stress, depression, and physical illness – humor and joy offer a healthy counterbalance. They reduce stress hormones, lift our spirits, enhance recovery, and most importantly, connect us to one another during our most vulnerable times.
Head on over to this link to learn more.
💡 Holding Grief in Community: A Remembrance Workshop
At the turn of the season, the fall equinox is a time for reflection and preparing for wintering, which mirrors this workshop offering. We will create a nurturing space to intentionally remember a loved one, at whatever season of grief you are honoring. Through gentle yoga, guided meditation, and reflective practices, we will explore ways to honor loved ones while fostering personal healing.
Participants will leave with tools to process grief, experience emotional release, and feel more grounded in the present moment.
Hosted by Mary Sullivan, a Washington Hospital Center Chaplain death doula. Mary creates meaningful ceremonies to honor The Resting and support The Living as their loved ones pass on. Mary is also a trained kundalini yoga teacher, reiki master, and birth doula.
📍Lūneh Yoga, 2000 S St NW Suite 100, Washington, DC
🖤 The DC Death Collective Virtual Check-In
Zoom 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.
💡Memento Mori Book Club: "It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand" by Megan Devine
Interested in building community around our shared mortality? Join us every other month for casual, thoughtful conversation about death, dying, grief—and ultimately, life. Guided by rotating readings, these gatherings are hosted by death doula Ali Brill and held in the cozy stacks of People’s Book.
People’s Book, 7014 Westmoreland Ave Suite A, Takoma Park, MD (RSVP to Ali)
💡Skulls ‘n Scones Potluck Brunch
A cozy summer brunch where the pastries are sweet, the coffee is hot, and the conversation is about... death. Join us for Skulls ‘n Scones, a relaxed and welcoming gathering for folks who want to explore end-of-life topics in good company.
All are welcome, whether you’re a death worker, grief-tender, or just curious about it all.
Private Residence, Ashton, MD (address shared upon RSVP to Susan)
💡 Death Cafe at The Potter's House
Every first Sunday, starting July 6, 2025
Join hosts Mary Jo Neil, Chana Gelbard, Lolonyo Carter, and Pleasance Silicki at The Potter’s House, a long-standing and much-beloved Adams Morgan institution. No RSVP necessary ~ come one, come all
✨ DCDC at Gays & Graves: A Big Gay Festival
Come celebrate Pride with us! Stop by the DCDC booth at Congressional Cemetery's Gays and Graves on Saturday, June 21st, from 11 am to 4 pm.
Gays & Graves: A Big Gay Festival is a joyful gathering that honors LGBTQ+ history, creativity, and community spirit—all in one vibrant day of fun, reflection, and Pride.
Wander through a lively outdoor market showcasing LGBTQ+ artists, makers, and small businesses offering handmade goods, art, tasty treats, and more. Enjoy an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere filled with color, community, and connection.
Throughout the day, our historic chapel will host engaging programming centered on LGBTQ+ history.
We are proud to be the final resting place of many LGBTQ+ pioneers and activists—offering a unique opportunity to celebrate Pride while honoring those who came before us.
Whether you’re here to shop, learn or reflect, Gays & Graves is a celebration.
Read more here: The legacy of Congressional Cemetery’s “Gay Corner”
💡 Tea and Transition: An Online Death Cafe hosted by Ancestral Roots
This Month’s Focus: “What Stories Will They Tell?”
Join us for a tender, honest conversation about legacy, memory, and the stories we leave behind. What do you hope they’ll say about you — and how are you shaping that truth right now? Come sip, share, and sit with the sacred.
Find the event link on zoom here.
Hosted by Lolonyo Carter of Ancestral Roots
✨Song bath with the Threshold Choir
Bluebird Sky Yoga is honored to host a gentle musical offering from the Threshold Singers of Washington, D.C. — part of the international Threshold Choir, whose volunteers sing at life’s tender thresholds.
This free afternoon event is a chance to pause and be held in song. Come for one song or the whole hour. You can listen, sing, or lie back and receive a “song bath,” where the energy of the singers is focused directly on you.
Mats, bolsters, and blankets will be available to make yourself comfortable. Afterward, you’re invited to stay for tea and informal community time.
The Threshold Singers offer their voices at no cost for those in times of transition—whether at the end of life or navigating a personal crossroads. Their music is spiritual but not religious, aiming simply to comfort, soothe, and connect.
To learn more about the Threshold Singers of DC or to support their work, email ThresholdSingersDC@gmail.com or visit thresholdchoir.org/DC
Bluebird Sky Yoga, 3101 12th St NE, Washington, DC
🖤 The DC Death Collective Virtual Check-in
Come gather with us for a one-a-month virtual drop-in ~ come say hi. What’s on your mind? How are you doing these days? What are you thinking about? What’s the news? Simply, a way to have some gentle hellos in the Midst of it All.
Zoom link available to members
🖤 DC Death Collective Book Club: “When Breath Becomes Air”
Welcome to our first book club gathering!
Lead by member Ali Brill, our first read will be When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. We thank K Skerry — another beloved DCDC member — for hosting us at her spot, Giggle Water.
Location: 1333 P St NW, Washington DC
✨Discussing Death Differently
Come join us at The Salt Sanctuary of Maryland for an event that aims to change the way we talk about death. This in-person gathering will provide a safe space to explore diverse perspectives on this often taboo topic. Let's have open conversations, share experiences, and challenge societal norms together. Don't miss this opportunity to engage in thought-provoking discussions in a supportive environment. See you there!
6020 Meadowridge Center Drive #Unit T Elkridge, MD 21075
✨ The Virginia End-of-Life Doula Collective presents: End-of-Life Doula Business Guide: ~ How Coaching Supports Success
Running an end-of-life doula practice is significant work, but navigating the business side can feel overwhelming. How do you set sustainable pricing? Attract the right clients? Structure your business for success while staying true to your calling.
Join us for an enlightening presentation with an experienced business coach specializing in helping small business owners build sustainable, ethical, and financially viable businesses.
Presented by Lee Van Dusen of KPL Coaching.
Lee has over two decades of experience as a senior leader and CEO. He presents nationally and internationally on the topics of quality improvement and organizational excellence. Lee has over 25 years of experience helping organizations on their journeys to become role model businesses. He is well versed and uses the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program’s Framework as a method to help leaders think of their business as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts and individual activities. This systems approach is used by some of the most successful organizations in the world. Lee loves helping small businesses improve their results and achieve their vision.
He is a trained state-level examiner and Judge with the Quality Texas Foundation and has been a member of the national Baldrige Board of Examiners for many years.
RSVP here; admission is free.
🖤 The DC Death Collective Virtual Check-in
Come gather with us for a one-a-month virtual drop-in ~ come say hi. What’s on your mind? How are you doing these days? What are you thinking about? What’s the news?
Simply, a way to have some gentle hellos in the Midst of it All.
💡 Death Doula Marketing Workshop and Garden Walk
You’re invited to a death doula marketing workshop and garden walk, hosted by member Leslie Tolf.
We’ll gather to showcase where we are at with our businesses: we’ll talk logos, websites, marketing and clients, and writing our own biographies. Light refreshments will be served.
1026 Perry Street, NE
RSVP: 202.215.9278
🖤 Death Over Drafts DC
WHERE?
Duffy’s Irish Pub 1901 C St SE, Washington, DC 20003
WHY?
This is a free and informal gathering for the community that will be held every other month on the FINAL (get it?) Tuesday of the month. Come once or come monthly: no experience or expectations necessary! The event is co-hosted by Robin and Laura, our DC Death Collective co-founders.
What to expect:
The event is free!
All are welcome!
You can still come if you don’t love beer, there are other snacks and drinks! ;)
This is a super supportive community, but we are not a support group.
In this communal environment, we remind you to be responsible for your own engagement.
At Death Over Drafts, the public can enjoy a fun conversation where death is not avoided. There’s no lecture, but questions will be answered. You never know who you will sit next to, very interesting fellow guests will be in our midst. We will also have a game called “Death Deck” on the table, a Death Over Drafts favorite activity.
Any questions? Email the Death Doula in Residence at Congressional Cemetery, Laura: Deathdoula@congressionalcemetery.org
✨ Annual Grief-in-Public
“Dear Death Workers,
More than ever, the global grief crisis (amplified by genocide, climate collapse, and the fall of empire, among many other collective and personal losses) calls us to create spaces where we can collectively acknowledge and bear witness to our sorrows.
The time of living under an overarching denial of this grief is over. Let's show our communities a different
way. We, as a collective of death workers, create symbiotic movements that upend this denial.
We give our communities safe places of welcome and affirmation to express collective grief.
If we combine our efforts in doing so, we may spark a new and significant wave of grief awareness.
Let's amplify our energies on April 27,
2025, for the 4th Annual Grief-in-Public Day.
Annual Grief-in-Public Day is ultimately a day for awareness to be raised about our global grief crisis. By creating grief-accepting spaces in public we begin to change the cultural narrative about where grief expression is acceptable. On Annual Grief-in-Public Day death workers, grief workers and anyone else who'd like to join them, create a public display that raises awareness about the Grief Crisis…”
This is where your creativity comes in! Follow this link to learn how you can join up with the movement.
✨ Film Screening and Q &A | The Last Ecstatic Days at Busboys & Poets, Takoma Park
Please join us at Busboys and Poets in Takoma Park on April 17th for our next community event: a screening of the movie The Last Ecstatic Days. Featured on PBS, this thought-provoking documentary explores the profound significance and transformative power of embracing death as a community.
Following the film, Reflection Park team members will host an interactive community discussion with Dr. Aditi Sethi, Executive Director of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying, based in Asheville, North Carolina. Dr. Sethi plays a significant role in the film, and her founding of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying was inspired in part by her experiences in the film.
This event aims to foster meaningful conversations around the end-of-life journey and the possibilities that arise when individuals and communities come together to support one another through one man’s journey of dying.
This film and live music to start the program are shared with us by the CCLD community as part of their We Are Remembering tour. RSVP HERE https://reflectionpark.org/events