About
Pic: Mel Watson
I am not taking on new clients right now.
My practice is full. Please check back, or if you would like to be placed on a waiting list, please send an via the contact page.
I may still have capacity for specific projects. If you have a specific, clearly defined project in mind, email me too.
In the meantime, my free Help Guides are here for you, any time, at no cost.
Service is at the heart of Kind Path Guide. I promise you compassionate, person-centered support, so that when the hardest days come, you meet them with a plan and a person beside you.
There are moments when the path forward is not clear, when you feel unseen in the very systems meant to serve you. That is where I do my work. I am Mel Watson, and I help older adults, families, and caregivers turn uncertainty into clarity and complexity into manageable steps.
Why Me
More than 30 years of nonprofit and small business leadership, including 13 years in aging and disability services at Island Senior Resources here on Whidbey Island, rising from program coordinator to Director of Aging and Disability Resources.
I have led an eight-person department covering family caregiver support, support groups, community resources, adult day services, and medical transportation. I have managed budgets of more than $600,000, sourced new grant opportunities and held grant compliance across multiple programs, and sat across the table from older adults, people with disabilities, and the caregivers who hold it all together. I know these systems from the inside, which is exactly why I can walk you through them.
I build programs people want to belong to, then design them to run without me:
- Systems and technology. Led the move from paper records to a custom CRM, and designed and built the system to be accessible to non-technical staff.
- SAIL falls prevention. Launched across multiple locations, now serving more than 130 people.
- Caregiver support. More than 500 support group meetings facilitated, in person and on Zoom.
- Pride Cafe. Founded for 2SLGBTQIA+ older adults, grown to 39 members, then handed to peer leadership, where it continues.
- Free Help Guides. A growing online library of community resources, including guides for 2SLGBTQIA+ older adults and people of color.
Certifications: Family Caregiver Support Program Case Manager (T.CARE), Community Resources Specialist (InformUSA), Community Health Worker (Washington State Department of Health), SAIL Certified Leader, Washington State Notary Public with Remote Online Notarization endorsement, and Mental Health First Aid.
A long-time practitioner of meditation study and practice, including teaching since 2005. It shapes how I show up: calm, patient, and present with people on hard days.
I am neurodivergent, and I bring lived experience alongside professional expertise. I know what it feels like when the world is not built for the way you move through it, and I build my practice so that no client ever has to mask, apologize, or hurry to be helped.
How I Can Help
I have special experience supporting older adults with ADHD, AuDHD, or other brain or cognitive differences.
Advocate Services and Support
$150 per hour
Hourly advocacy and practical help for current needs and goals: appointments, decisions, family conversations, calls, paperwork, and follow-through. I can also be your documented first contact, so when something happens, providers reach me and your Power of Attorney has everything they need. Organizations and businesses can book hourly technical support too.
Project Based Services
By negotiation
One thing you cannot face, handled start to finish: downsizing, a move, clearing a house, getting documents in order. For organizations and businesses, technical support projects such as setting up systems, tools, and workflows, plus social media marketing plans and implementation. We agree on the scope and fee together, in writing, before we start.
Kind Path Guide services are intended solely for general informational and supportive purposes. They are not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and I am not a licensed medical, legal, or financial professional. When your situation calls for one, part of my job is helping you find the right one and preparing you for that meeting.
Looking for help right now?
Browse the free Help Guides See servicesHave a specific, clearly defined project in mind? Contact me via the contact page