OUR STORY
In 2019, friends Lauren Carroll and Erin Merelli founded The Deathwives with a shared vision: to ignite open, honest conversations about death and end-of-life care. What began as a small, heartfelt workshop soon blossomed into a vibrant community. Guided by our passion for empowering others, we set out to help people face death with compassion, preparedness, and a deeper understanding of its sacred nature.
In 2020, amid the collective grief brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, we launched Community Grief, a pay-what-you-can workshop that offered solace and support to those navigating the heavy loss of that time. This initiative deepened our commitment to creating an inclusive, equitable space where anyone could explore the mysteries of death and grief in a way that felt meaningful and true to them. This was the beginning of The Deathwives.
By 2021, we expanded our vision with Deathfolx, a community platform for deathworkers and the death-curious, and launched Deathschool, a deeply transformative program exploring the sacred realms of death, grief, and ancestry. Responding to our growing community of students and supporters, we broadened our offerings to include a suite of accessible Core Courses, as well as specialty workshops and webinars tailored to their needs. We then advanced our mission by training the next generation of Death Doulas through advanced certificate courses.
Today, The Deathwives continue to lead in the death space, creating sanctuaries and living libraries of wisdom where both seasoned deathworkers and those newly curious about deathcare can gather, learn, and flourish. In 2024, guided by the same spirit that originally shaped The Deathwives, we continue to gently weave our passions and insights into new, visionary projects and partnerships.
