Cassandra Yonder - Death Midwife

Cassandra Yonder bio:
"I live with my partner, 2 children and livestock (including horses, dairy goats, rabbits, chickens, cats and dogs) in the forested highlands of Cape Breton at North River, just off the Cabot Trail where we are developing a self sufficient homestead using timber framing and cordwood building techniques.  I have a master degree in architecture which was preceded by a BA in gerontology and sociology...

"The unexpected death of a close friend and neighbour precipitated a deepening of my consciousness in the field of death and dying, and as a result I went to Final Passages in California in 2009 to become certified as a home funeral guide.  I kept up my volunteering and am currently the chair of the Victoria County Hospice Society, secretary of our local Community Health Board, a member of the Grief Nova Scotia working group and a board member of the National Home Funeral Alliance.

"I've started a private practice in death midwifery through which I offer education and consultation services around home funerals, bereavement support and disposition alternatives.  I'm passionate about palliative care and choices at end of life; particularly post death care and disposition alternatives such as green burial, and have been asked to speak about the potential value of family centred post death care to healthy grief processes at conferences, radio engagements and other venues...

"My long term vision is to live closely with death in a self reliant way here Beyond Yonder Homestead, which I hope will become an interpretive centre for death and dying and a school for practices related to death midwifery."