About Charlene

Founder of Companion Sea

I’m Charlene — a doula, a caregiver, and someone who has spent most of her life walking with others through crisis, change, and grief.

I worked for many years as a paramedic and now serve as a specialist in emergency medical services. I’ve seen what health systems do well — and what they leave behind. Over time, and through deeply personal loss, I began to see the quiet truth: systems are built to treat conditions, not people. Care often ends where presence begins.

Between 2019 and 2025, I lost my brother, sister, mother, father, cat, dog – and my 19 year-old son. I also became a caregiver to my in-laws, both of whom are now living with dementia. These experiences reshaped me. They slowed me down. They opened me to what really matters: being with someone when they are in the deep of it. Not to fix, but to stay.

That’s what Companion Sea is. A practice of calm, mutual presence through life’s hardest — and sometimes most meaningful — seasons.

Whether you’re preparing for death, navigating grief, or simply longing for someone to walk alongside you or your loved one, I’m here.