Nearly 25% of Healdsburg residents are over 65. When they or their families need end-of-life resources, information is scattered across medical systems, legal offices and social services. Language barriers can make navigation even harder. Adult children often scramble to understand their parents’ wishes while managing crisis after crisis.
With adults over 60 projected to account for 35% of Sonoma County’s population by 2030, this isn’t a reality our community can continue to overlook. Those with strong social networks may find support through friends or faith communities. Those without often struggle alone.
That’s why Healdsburg’s City Council recently approved “When The Time Comes” (WTTC), a new city service designed to help residents navigate end-of-life planning and support. We’re not another service provider or advisory body—we’re connectors, helping people find and access existing resources while identifying gaps that need filling.
The program organizes support around three areas:
• Empowering Choices helps people understand and document their wishes before crisis hits. This includes connecting residents to resources for advance directives, Five Wishes-type documents and estate planning. We’ll host informal gatherings where people can discuss end-of-life concerns without judgment or agenda. We help people understand what needs doing and connect them with appropriate professionals—we don’t provide legal or financial advice ourselves.
• Navigating the Journey is about presence, about having somewhere to turn when the time comes. Instead of families sifting alone through endless online searches for care providers, we offer human connection and practical support. Through our community volunteer network, neighbors show up for neighbors: coordinating meal delivery, providing transportation, sitting vigil. End-of-life doulas help support entire circles of care, ensuring wishes are honored. This is where giving and receiving meet, where those who’ve walked this path help others find their way, and where everyone who wants to help has a meaningful way to contribute.
• Being Supported recognizes that grieving and settling affairs happen in community. This means ensuring bereavement support that reflects our community’s diversity, with services available in both English and Spanish. It also means providing roadmaps for those handling estate settlement and the practical aftermath of loss.
The emphasis is on information and connection, not prescription. Every family’s needs, values and resources differ. Some want every medical intervention available; others prioritize comfort. Some find meaning in religious traditions; others in secular gatherings. Our role is to ensure people know their options and can access the support they choose, regardless of their economic situation or social connections.
As a newly approved program, WTTC will take time to fully establish. Over the coming months we’ll build infrastructure, develop partnerships with existing service providers and create materials in both English and Spanish. We’re starting gradually, allowing us to build based on actual community needs rather than assumptions.
As we learn what Healdsburg residents most need, we’ll adapt and expand accordingly.
WTTC operates as a city service, with grant funding supporting programming. We draw guidance from healthcare professionals, social workers and community members who’ve navigated these experiences themselves. We’re not replacing medical or legal professionals, but we are helping residents find and work with these experts more effectively.
To those dealing with these issues now, we’re beginning to collect and organize resources even as we build the program. Email co**************@***il.com for information. We welcome input from anyone—whether as a professional partner, community volunteer or someone with lived experience to share—interested in shaping this initiative.
This isn’t about transforming death or making grand claims, it’s basic community care. It’s neighbors supporting neighbors, and creating a community where no one faces life’s final chapter alone. The overarching goal is peace of mind, now and when the time comes.
More information on the program is online at healdsburg.gov/1195/NEW-When-the-Time-Comes.
