Who am I....
About Me
Hello. My name is Rayne Foy-Vachon (she/her), and I am an End of Life/Death Doula. As a 58 year old queer lesbian, my knowledge and work has been informed through experiences with homophobia, cis sexism, and misogyny. However my privilege as a white settler, middle class, able-bodied person, has given me access to tools that are unavailable to others. I am thankful for the teachings of Indigenous women, Two-Spirit people, BIPOC and communities to whom I aim to be accountable in the work that I do. I endeavor to do my work in the spirit of relationship building and deep cultural humility. I am also grateful to live, learn and work on Treaty 1 territory, home of the Cree, Anishinaabe, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples and the homelands of the Metis Nation.
How my journey began
Having worked in healthcare, particularly in the HIV/AIDS community for over 20 years, has provided me with varied and diverse life experience to support individuals with their end-of-life needs. My experience with death and dying began in the mid-eighties during the AIDS crisis in Edmonton, where I volunteered with the Edmonton AIDS Network. During this time, I watched many of my friends tragically lose their lives at incredibly young ages. More recently I cared for my terminally ill stepfather and sat vigil with him right to his death. Two months later, I spent time doing the same, caring for my mother, not yet realizing at that time, that was the beginning of my new journey as an End-of-Life Doula.
My Approach
My approach to death is a pragmatic one with sincere empathy and compassion. It is my intention to normalize death and remove the stigma of having discussions about death and dying. As a Death Doula I support and give companionship to individuals and families experiencing death and dying. Having a background in the model of harm reduction and trauma informed care, allows me to provide the opportunity to offer the dying the ability to bring choice, dignity, autonomy, and person -centered car into their dying process.