Meet Our Doulas
Nancy Finkle
* Kind * Competent * Soothing
Nancy shows up for people – demonstrating her firm commitment to listening well, building trust, and lovingkindness in everything she does. Now retired from a 30+ year career in education, she strives to share her empathic heart, open mind, and breadth of experience in service of meaningful end-of-life passages. Nancy particularly delights in any opportunity to engage in discussions with groups of people – large or small – focusing upon EOL Planning, addressing fear of death, smoothing bumps in death-oriented conversation, and more. A student of ceremony and ritual, her eloquence and warmth have underscored meaning at moments of sacred transition (bedside support, funerals/memorials, weddings, and more). It is now her focus to offer gentle, reliable support, healing dialogue, and spiritual openness to those facing death – and the people who love them.
Nancy is also available to coach and help focus all who are interested – especially the bereaved – in completion of necessary documents and preparation of wishes for final disposition, such as home funeral, conventional or natural burial, or additional eco-friendly options, such as water cremation.
Having been a Peace Corps Rural Health Educator in Honduras, Nancy is fluent in Spanish and delights in learning about history, politics, the arts, and science anywhere in the world her feet or bicycle wheels take her. Nancy identifies as bisexual, and is committed to lifelong learning about systemic injustice, cultural dignity, and full recognition of each person’s worth.
Zoë Francesca Goldblatt
* Creativity * Consciousness * Dementia Care
Zoë has a gentle, loving spirit and a deeply compassionate, soulful presence. For over 15 years, Zoë has specialized in working with people living with dementia, and their caregivers, at Z*O*E Activity Therapies. Where appropriate, she uses music, poetry, and other expressive arts to help connect her clients to their own truths about life and death. As part of her Doula services, Zoë offers grief and bereavement counseling and help with planning funerals and memorials.
Zoë embraces Jewish spiritual practice and is comfortable working with people of all religious and non-religious backgrounds. She is an ally to LGBTQIA families and communities. She is supportive of Palliative Care, Hospice Care, and people who choose the End of Life Option Act (Medical Aid in Dying). Zoë has training in Relationship & Intimacy coaching through the Somatica Institute and can competently address another, often hidden dimension of aging and disability: challenges with intimacy and attachment.
Amanda Tart-Walker
Amanda describes herself as an end-of-life companion; through her open heart and non-judgmental presence, a profound ease begins. She is deeply interested in and embracing of all aspects that may arise in a person, a family, or a care group when mortality and recognition of human dignity are being considered.
Amanda seeks through her end-of-life companioning to normalize death, and to approach topics that may seem unusual or daunting with care, with tenderness, with close attention — perhaps even a sense of joy. She is especially interested in supporting the development of Advance Directives, of detailed “death plans”, and of personalized rituals. Amanda has helped many folx at profound life transitions and at death time, all while honoring the value of cultural differences and power dynamics in our society.
Amanda’s experiences span hospice volunteer work, over a decade in the cannabis industry, and multiple death doula trainings (INELDA + Going With Grace), culminating with her position as a student instructor and GWG training volunteer. Helping others feel better, whole, and safe is truly the heart of Amanda’s practice
Rita Trumbo
* Heart-Centered Care * Empowering Guidance * Calmness & Clarity
Rita’s connection with the heart of individuals serves her clients well as an End-of-Life Doula, in her work with hospice, and her support of early bereavement. With cultural sensitivity, Rita provides individualized services to support the dying person and their care community throughout their end-of-life journey. Rita is passionate about normalizing conversations about death and the dying process.
As a healthcare advocate, Rita supports the continuum of care, helping her clients understand their medical condition in order to make decisions that support the quality of life they desire, which may include the transition from curative/palliative treatment to hospice care, and planning for their final days.
Employing her deep compassion and empathy, Rita is trained in supporting people in a death of their choosing under California’s End of Life Option Act (Medical Aid in Dying), and in all cases, she advocates that her clients live their fullest life possible, while preparing for their best death, opening up discussion of ways to lovingly sustain those they leave behind.
Rita provides physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual support. She partners with her client and their family to offer understanding of the dying process, making it less mysterious; and ensures the planning, decisions, and control remain with those most directly involved. Creating a safe environment offers the client an opportunity to resolve issues, complete conversations, and revisit one’s life legacy.
Ilana Trumbull
Ilana Trumbull, M.S., L.Ac., has practiced Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine since 2000. Her practice draws on a committed meditation practice, Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Technique, Myofascial Release and QiGong.
Integrating spirit is always at the forefront of Ilana’s work and to this she brings a rich background in the wisdom traditions of Jewish, Buddhist and Unitarian Universalist practices. She works calmly and openly with families and individuals as they traverse the passages of life and death. Acupuncture offers a unique window into planning conscious dying and dying with dignity.
Ilana has extensive experience and specialized training in work with the active elderly, LGBTQIA+ community, brain injury, trauma treatment, anxiety/depression, community medicine, palliative care and cancer care.
Trina Wacasey
* Grounded * Compassionate * Empowering
Trina helps individuals and families navigate dying with intention, clarity, and dignity. Her work centers on Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) as a conscious end-of-life option, supporting both clients and care teams through the emotional, physical, and logistical dimensions of the process. Drawing on years of experience, Trina helps families understand what VSED entails, prepare for it, and create a compassionate framework of comfort, choice, and presence throughout.
In addition to her VSED expertise, Trina specializes in family-involved death care and natural disposition options. She guides families through the growing spectrum of choices now available—home funerals, aquamation, terramation, and family-led rituals of care—honoring both environmental values and the human need for meaningful participation in death. Her practice emphasizes empowerment through education, helping people understand their rights and options while creating personalized, values-based plans for the end of life.
Trina’s approach is rooted in calm, heart-centered presence and deep respect for autonomy. She brings together knowledge, warmth, and advocacy to bridge the gaps that often exist between hospice, family, and community. Her work invites families to reimagine what dying well can look like—real, supported, and profoundly human.
