Today we’d like to introduce you to Belinda Enriquez-Sanchez, MA
Hi Belinda, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Thank you for this feature and allowing me to introduce Sacred Roads LLC. While I will continue in general elder care and companionship, I am focused on developing my LLC. I did not always know I would launch an LLC in Missouri centered on death care, and I am not one bit surprised, in hindsight. I mean, my first core life memory involves death and grief with the death of our oldest brother, Victor. I remember my parents getting the call in the middle of the night. The call that no parent wants. As was the entire family, I was fundamentally changed, and I was not even three years old. It was, of course, impossible to see what the full impact of his death would be on our lives and sense of selves, in that moment. That two-year-old, malleable brain was forever marked and shaped by death. Since, I function with a philosophical curiosity regarding the nature of existence, life, and death.
Fast forward to 2017 in Michoacán, Mexico, before my final year of graduate school. I was able to be with my late maternal grandfather, Vicente, during the last ten days of his life in our hometown. With mixed emotions, that time was meaningful and pivotal in clarifying what I would do after the program. I knew I would work in traditional death care. From the home funeral to the sense of community that stepped up for my grandfather, I respected that manner of honoring our people. The way a community arose and came together was humbling and admirable. My gut screamed that people would benefit from that type of care, honesty, connection, support, and awareness during such an irreplaceable time. I knew, then, I needed to bring that option and type of care to the North.
Historically, home funerals and home death care were a natural part of living. I am not saying, “Everyone, have a home funeral!” I am saying that there is more than one way to care for our people, for those that welcome it. Some of you reading this may already be searching for that distinct care and guidance for your parent(s) or yourself. With deep love for my culture and lessons from vast personal loss throughout the years, I aim to bring death care back to its sacred roots. It takes a village to raise someone. It is no different in death and dying.
Leading me to this conversation, today, I completed my undergraduate studies in psychology at Western Michigan University and received a graduate degree in psychotherapy and psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Following graduation, I continued in the elder care sector within the communities of Boulder County. Thank you to Tarron Estes and the Conscious Dying Institute, I received my death doula training within the year post graduation. Having moved to St. Louis, I obtained my funeral director license while working at Baue Funeral Home. Obtaining licensure helped towards the culmination of this profound heart passion that was decades in the making. With acknowledgement and gratitude for the gained direct experience, I left the funeral home to dedicate my efforts to piece it all together. As the founder and owner, I am proud to say Sacred Roads LLC launched in 2024.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The fact that I am fortunate to be telling my story and sharing my work with you all is a representation of a life’s journey and the work put into making it happen. As previously mentioned, founding and launching Sacred Roads LLC was decades in the making. Pursuing and completing an undergraduate degree was significant in itself. Being the first in my family to do so, it was all unknown territory that I learned to navigate on my own. My dear mom, who became mom and dad, wished she could help me sort things out. My family rooted for me along the way. However, I figured it out as I went forth in a country where people like my family and I do not always get that far. Growing further and obtaining a master’s degree was beyond a victory. Talk about unknown territory. Now, having launched a business, I am on new ground once again. I am stepping further into the professional world and navigating what lies ahead.
Mental health advocacy is very important to me. Without shame or embarrassment, I admit I have struggled, been unwell, and fell into very dark places myself. I have made mistakes and poor decisions, only to understand the connections as two why later on. In the last ten years, I have done more work on acknowledging, understanding, and healing decades of trauma and hurt than the majority of the people around me will ever truly know. That is usually how it goes, and that is okay. I have received love from many in my life and have silently fought daily battles. I have gotten through them and can fiercely stand today. Unsurprisingly, my physical health was eventually afflicted, in part, from years of suppression and toxicity. Particularly in the last year, I have been working to heal and become stronger in that regard. This is not intended to be a “woe is me” message or to seek sympathy. Still, I acknowledge what has shaped me at the core.
To all those fighting in silence, I stand with you. To those that have been by my side during the roughest, yet, real moments and talks, I love you. To my family and loved ones that have helped me get here, I give you my infinite thank you’s.
All said and done, launching Sacred Roads LLC was a gift. Fundamentally, it is also a culmination of the tenacity and suffering of my mother and all those before me. Proudly, I will always acknowledge and be grateful to my roots, heritage, and ancestors. Without their persistence and resilience, I would not be here. As this country was taken and made into what it is today, my family knows very well the challenges that can impact those pursuing a better life. Please, believe me when I say that I am doing what I can to break the cycle and effects of my lineage’s intergenerational trauma.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The intention of Sacred Roads LLC is to advocate for conscious and dignified end-of-life experiences for individuals and families. As a death doula, I provide non-medical, holistic care and guidance before, approaching, during, and following someone’s death. Hospice and palliative care teams are only able to go so far, for various reasons. Sacred Roads LLC aims to be a supplement to the care both entities already provide. Whether having personally received a terminal diagnosis or coordinating the upcoming care for a dying parent, I help decipher what is important to families on the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and practical levels. From help identifying someone’s death care wishes to completing life reviews, I can help navigate what is to come. From logistical guidance and education to non-medical comfort care at bedside, I can be there for someone’s entire family and friend circle. Whether seeking to receive vigil services when the time comes or post-death bereavement support, I can serve as a guide to fulfill as good of a death as possible for that person and person’s family.
Through honest conversations and collaboration, families and I create a care plan that supports the five domains mentioned above and how each person wants to spend the rest of life. Care and services are individually tailored to meet that person’s specific needs and wishes. I work with families to ensure the designated plan is true to their loved one(s) and remains true along the way. As needed, I make referrals and collaborate with other doulas or death care professionals. These are delicate and irreversible life moments. I aim to help strengthen the circle of care so families can maintain presence and attention where it matters most — being with their dying loved one, as opposed to overwhelmed figuring out what to do or what is happening.
The following are specific services that I offer.
Assistance with Advance Care Planning and completing Advance Directives
Legacy Work and Life Review Projects
Respite and Caregiver Support
Rituals
Vigil Planning and Sitting Vigil
Mediation
Facilitating Unresolved Issues
Assistance with Eulogies and Obituaries
Support and Preparation for Working with a Funeral Home
Bereavement SupportThese service offerings are based on companionship and presence. The initial consultation is always free of charge and meant to decipher if a doula is right for the individual and family. In the initial session(s), families and I identify the services that are of benefit and desire to them. As applicable, I also discuss options not listed above that I may find helpful. Families are not required to agree to any minimum number of services or sessions. The hourly fees are determined by the number of sessions with me and the type(s) of service(s) requested. Care plans can be updated along the way, as frequently as needed. Together, families and I complete an agreed upon contract, by all parties, before proceeding with the care plan and services.
Sacred Roads LLC offers non-judgemental care services to families of all religions and backgrounds. I also offer these services in Spanish.
I am very thankful to be here with this opportunity to share about my services and the difference doulas can make. A major part of a doula’s work may focus on education and pure conversation. The intention is so we may be able to help more people relate to death with less and less fear. Nobody can escape it. Death is just as much a part of life as taxes and needing nutrition. The ability to accept all aspects of life with grace and in community can enable each of us to live with a richer sense of ease, instead of merely locked within fear.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sacredroads.org
