A shared understanding of grief and a deep desire to offer something more compassionate and meaningful, saw Kylie Gangemi and Glenda Bennett cross paths. While their experiences of loss are different, they both knew that death need not a lonely and frightening experience. Instead, they envisioned a way for it to be tender, supported, and deeply personal.
Fast forward 3 years, and the pair are making a difference to the lives of the living and the dying through their Beresfield – based funeral company, “Natural Grace.” Rooted in holistic, sustainable practices, Natural Grace is quietly transforming the way families experience death, dying, and grief in the Newcastle, Hunter and Central Coast regions.
Both Kylie and Glenda are trained end-of-life doulas, and their approach is as intentional as it is compassionate. They consider it an honour to care for the deceased whom they warmly refer to as their guest, and to walk gently alongside those who grieve. Kylie and Glenda are joined by Sophie Maher who is a trained Holistic Mortician and an end of life doula also.
“This work is a calling,” says Kylie. “It’s such a privileged and sacred space to work in and everything I have experienced in life has led me to where I am” Kylie said.
Kylie’s connection to grief is deeply personal. Six years ago, her son Jamie was tragically killed in a pedestrian accident at just twenty-one.
“I’ve always been a compassionate person, but I think experiencing the grief of my son’s death has made me better able to help others who are grieving” she said.
Her business partner Glenda, has seen the impact of grief and trauma through a different lens, having spent much of her working life as an ambulance paramedic. She emotionally described an experience which was the catalyst to her changing careers.
“I was attending to an elderly man who had died suddenly. His wife had no one, no neighbours or friends nearby, no family in town. She was completely alone. I remember wishing I could stay with her, to just sit with her in that moment. But I couldn’t. That experience stayed with me and led me to become an end-of-life doula, and now a funeral director".
