After an uphill battle to improve access to Medical Aid in Dying, join EOLWA to learn about our advocacy efforts, what the new changes to the law mean, and how volunteers, staff, and community members are creating a community of care by paying it forward.
Join us on November 2, 2023, from 5:30-6:30 pm for our Annual Meeting, held on Zoom.
If you are having trouble registering for the Annual Meeting, please contact Daniela Miranda at dmiranda@endoflifewa.org
Teresa Chiftis, President of the Board
Teresa’s involvement with End of Life Washington is a direct result of supporting her husband as he faced a progressive, degenerative neurological disease. Together, with the support of EOLWA, he was able to make his own decisions around the end of his life when he chose to Voluntarily Stop Eating and Drinking (VSED). Choosing VSED requires an incredible amount of courage and fortitude, and Teresa serves on the Board to ensure that her husband’s journey was not in vain and that his story can help others facing a similar choice. She is passionate about everyone having access to information about end-of-life choices and the support needed to make those choices for oneself.
Nancy Niedzielski, EOLWA Volunteer
Nancy holds degrees in both Education and Psychology, along with an MBA. She spent a year campaigning to pass Washington State’s Death With Dignity Act and helped Vermont in their efforts. She is featured in the award-wining documentary, How To Die in Oregon. She is a volunteer speaker for End of Life Washington doing presentations on end-of-life issues at national medical conferences, universities and numerous organizations. She started the first Brain Tumor Caregiver Support Group in Washington State and is a contributing author for a book published by the American Academy of Neurology. She officiates weddings and memorials services.
Aryana Bates, EOLWA Volunteer
A recently licensed funeral director, Aryana stepped into the field of deathcare in earnest in 2022; she began training with EOLWA as a Volunteer Client Advisor (VCA) in March and started a funeral director internship with The Co-op Funeral Home of People’s Memorial Association in June. She had explored a death doula path earlier by studying as a Going with Grace cohort member and doing a good deal of reading while she found her way out of a varied career teaching and administering in the Washington State community college system. Aryana has a longstanding interest in the liminal spaces within human experience and cultures and in meaning-making as evidenced by several degrees in religious studies. The synchronous volunteer advocacy with EOLWA and professional care with TCFH feels like bringing theory into practice, a new form of coming into self as she navigates the heart of her 5th decade.
Nancy Sapiro, Advocacy Expert
Nancy is a lawyer and contract lobbyist. She has represented clients in Olympia since 2012 and has worked with End of Life Washington since 2016. She specializes in health care, civil rights, economic and social justice, domestic violence, promoting policies that support working families, and civic engagement. Prior to this, she worked as a staff attorney for a women’s legal rights organization that worked to advance the law through litigation, legislative advocacy and legal rights education strategies. She also worked for over 7 years as a public defender representing individuals charged with crimes as well as indigent parents and children involved in the juvenile justice/child welfare system. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2008 she was honored by the King County Washington Women Lawyers and given the Friend of the Judiciary Award for her work championing women’s rights to comprehensive health information and care. She is passionate about the work of End of Life WA based on her deeply rooted belief in autonomy around health care decision-making, particularly at the beginning and end stages of life.
Zoom tips and support
(more detailed support available at www.zoom.com)
Specific questions on the day of the meeting, please contact Alex Gramps or call 206-256-1636