We worked with a non-profit brand strategy firm to explore different name options that reflected what we do. We chose Zen Caregiving Project as it incorporates three crucial elements:
Zen: Although we are not a Buddhist organization, we were founded as a project within the San Francisco Zen Center, and our teachings are rooted in Zen Buddhist principles of compassion, interconnectedness, impermanence, and the benefits of meditation.
Caregiving: Caregiving is what unites each of our organizational programs. Our approach can be of benefit to those providing care be they a volunteer at the bedside of someone at the end of life, a family caregiver caring for a partner with a chronic illness or a clinician providing care in a professional role. Caregiving is also an active term implying the reciprocal relationship between the person providing care, and the person receiving care, both playing an active role and learning from each other.
Project: This word provides continuity with our previous name. “Project” conveys the always evolving nature of our work of supporting caregivers, persons in need of care, and providing a context for public discussion of caregiving, loss, and death.