Mara Sankin

COMPASSION • DIGNITY • UNDERSTANDING

My name is Mara Sankin, and I am based in Cleveland, Ohio. I work with Affinity Care of Ohio as a Death Doula and Hospice Educator, where I help individuals and families navigate the end-of-life journey with compassion, dignity, and understanding. My work focuses on education, emotional support, advocacy, and helping families feel less alone during some of life’s most difficult moments.

In addition to my role in hospice care, I am the founder of Partners in Passing, a company dedicated to providing holistic end-of-life support and guidance. I also serve part-time as a court-appointed guardian, advocating for vulnerable individuals who need support, protection, and a voice in complex life situations.

With a background rooted in service, recovery advocacy, and human connection, I am passionate about helping people walk through life’s most sacred and challenging transitions with grace, honesty, and compassion.

My work in end of life care is not something I chose lightly. It is something I was led to through my own healing. I spent over 20 years working as a drug and alcohol counselor, supporting people through some of the most painful and transformative moments of their lives. In 2014, I began my own recovery journey, and at my lowest point I remember feeling completely disconnected from humanity as a whole. That experience changed me. Recovery became more than staying sober. It became a path back to connection, to truth, and to learning how to show up for others in a real and meaningful way.

As I rebuilt my life, I became more aware of how many people move through this world without anyone truly advocating for them, especially at the end of life. That awareness is what drew me into hospice and eventually into my work as a death doula. I also serve as a court appointed guardian, working with individuals I often think of as the lost souls, people who are vulnerable, overlooked, or without a voice. To me, this is all part of the same calling. I believe we are here to help each other walk home, and that every person deserves to do so with grace, dignity, and someone by their side who sees them.

What I love most about this work is the opportunity to bring presence into spaces that can feel heavy or uncertain. Whether I am sitting with someone at the end of their life or supporting a family trying to make sense of it all, my role is to be a steady, compassionate witness. My journey taught me that even in the hardest moments, there is a deep opportunity for connection and meaning. Being able to offer that to others, especially at the end of life, feels like a continuation of my own healing and a way of giving back what was so freely given to me.

Mara Sankin
Affinity Care of Ohio

Death Doula & Hospice Educator