Thistle Community Death Care
Mission
• To facilitate authentic conversations about death and dying
• To empower the living to create end-of-life plans that reflect their values and beliefs
• To build a deathcare community of support and resources for the living, dying, and bereaved
• To companion the dying and their families through end-of-life transitions
About
Jennifer Jurlando is a death doula, writer, community educator, and grief support group facilitator. She is the co-founder of the RVA Death Collaborative. She leads grief support groups for preschoolers, in assisted living communities, and for people with life-limiting illness. Jennifer is an adjunct instructor in VCU’s Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling program and leads community educational events in many venues, including Chesterfield County Libraries, University of Richmond, the Attorney General's TRIAD Conference.
Her writing on loss, survival, and worth can be found on her Patreon. Her work has also been published online at RVAMAG and Life in 10 Minutes and in the anthologies, Unspoken: Writers on Infertility, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth, and Nine Lives: A Life in Ten Minutes Anthology. Her first poetry collection, No Mistakes Were Made was published in 2026.
She believes that authentic conversations about death make it possible to live life more fully.
Jennifer has a years-long ancestral veneration practice, facilitates monthly self-care ritual groups, and is driven to help people plan for the sacred space linking the end of life, death’s arrival, and body blessing rituals.
Events
Ongoing Support Group for People with Life-Limiting Illness,
First Thursday of each Month, 9:00-10:30, Winding Path Collective, MidlothianFall 2026: Chesterfield County Library Death Awareness Series
Chesterfield County Library will host four death-focused workshops in Fall 2026. Mark your calendars for the following dates:
October 10- Care and Feeding of Your Griever
November 2 - Ancestral Veneration
November 7 - Mock Home Funeral
November 8, 2026: Mock Home Funeral, Death Fest
Join Thistle Community Death Care at Death Fest, an annual educational gathering at Panorama Natural Burial Grounds in Earlysville, Virginia. The event builds community around green burial and empowers people to reclaim traditional death practices. This year, Jennifer Jurlando will facilitate a mock home funeral with Swann's End Flowers. This workshop focused on methods of body care, personalization of rituals, and special considerations for people who want to have home funerals.
Past Events
July 2026: Reclaiming Death Rites: End-of-Life Ritual Planning
Join Jennifer Jurlando of Thistle Community Death Care for a workshop on death, dying, and end-of-life ritual planning, tailored to the Pagan community. Participants will discuss our standing cultural beliefs about death and our community’s perception of a “good death.” Trends in burial and ritual in the Pagan community, as well as the importance of communicating wishes will be discussed.
Sept 2026, Death Matters Mock Funeral
Death Matters is a part of The Innerworks Center's offerings focused on building community and opening conversation about difficult topics. In this session, Jennifer Jurlando will host a mock home funeral. Topics will include body care, end-of-life ritual, and shrouding.
Shrouding Workshops
North Courthouse Library 2025-2026, Chesterfield, VA
Shrouding workshops have focused on building and practicing use of shrouds that can be made inexpensively and tailored to the desires and personality of the deceased. Participants are welcome to bring a sewing machine, ideas, experience, and a collaborative attitude.
October 2025: Death, Yoga, Self Love
Participants explore the meaning of their own mortality & cultivate self-love through movement, meditation & writing practice. A deeply intentional slow flow yoga practice focused on connecting with breath and the experience of living fully. A death meditation and creation of a blessing for the self followed.
November 2025: Hallowed Homecoming
Prince William Forest Park, Triangle, VA
Hallowed Homecoming is an annual Pagan Samhain retreat. The 2025 theme was Embracing the Darkness.
Jennifer Jurlando led a workshop on focused on creating end-of-life rituals aligned with the belief systems of individuals outside of standard American belief systems. Focus was on contemplation of death, planning rites, and communication of end-of-life wishes.
Spring 2026: Intro to End-of-Life and Legacy Planning, University of Richmond Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
This course will focus on planning for the end of life. Discussions in two sessions will focus on current trends in end-of-life care, legal considerations, communication of wishes, and ritual planning. Participants will discuss their desires for the end of their lives, their hopes about their legacy, and ways of ensuring their desires are met. Led by a local death educator and doula, the group will be conversational and driven by participant areas of interest and need. Topics to include green burial, advanced planning, home funerals, death doulas, hospice, and creation of legacy projects.
"Jennifer was a wealth of information, she presents all of her facts in a lively and engaging way."
"Jennifer was outstanding. She helped open my eyes to new thoughts about death and dying. It was very helpful."
November 2025: Virginia Anatomical Donation Information Session
Holistic Life Center, 1011 E Main Street, Richmond, VA
The director of Virginia State Anatomical Program, Raymond Rhodes, and area end-of-life doulas got together for a discussion about anatomical donation in Virginia. The hour-long presentation was followed by open conversation on the topic.
Resources
Contact
Email: [email protected]Phone: 804-304-5602Instagram: Thistle Community Death Care
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