The Parlor is a new, place-based extension of the KALMA brand focusing on initiatives of community care around death, dying and grief. It is expected to open later this spring.

The Parlor has a 600sf of mixed-use community space within KALMA’s brick-and-mortar store, located in the historic downtown of Port Townsend, WA. Its name is a reference to funeral parlors, and inspired by the etymology of the word “parlor”—a place for speaking.

The Parlor is a place for exploring the question: how do we live with death? Our programming focuses on how we live with an awareness of our own mortality and that of those we love, and how this knowledge shapes our everyday decisions about who we are and what we do. 

Potential programs and events include:

• Workshops on skill-building topics like end-of-life planning, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention.

• Creative classes, such as Victorian hairwork, writing your own obituary, and zine making.

• Social gatherings, like death positive movie nights, opportunities to chat with deathcare professionals and Death Cafes.

• Support groups, for different identity and experience groups, such as grief and loss, disability and chronic illness, or caregivers.

In addition to scheduled events, we’ll have open-ended and self-directed offerings. These include contributing to our Memory Tree and Grief Altar, utilizing our library of books and zines, our online Resource Directory or coming to Office Hours to explore ideas and be connected to outside resources. 

While we can cover the costs related to rent, maintenance and facilitation of this community space, we are inviting the community to help offset some of the initial expenses of building this space. Remaining needs include:

• Books and zines for the library

• Bookshelves

• More size-inclusive seating

• Worktables and workshop supplies for crafting events

• Technology tools for developing and running programming