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Last night we had our December member teleconference call. About 7 people joined the discussion. We discussed some of the legal issues that Canadians are facing, and also how the organization might want to investigate offering insurance as a member benefit. 

HI All - My first big teleconference and my first time blogging. I'm not sure how much detail to put in this blog. Do you want to know every every caller's name and everything that was said? Yikes! I'll start with an overview and you tell me what you think. 

      We counted a total of 12 in attendance.(Two from Canada!) A wonderful beginning. Heather Massey and I as the facilitators decided to leave the agenda open to see what folks wanted to talk about.

      Three issues came up pretty clearly. First training, where it was happening and the cost. Three trainers were on the call and spoke about their offerings, Jerri Grace Lyons, Donna Belk and Char Bennett. We also included information about Nancy Poer and Beth Knox.

     Certification of home funeral guides, always a hot topic. Not a whole lot of concrete information is immediately available since the Alliance is in the process of formulating a policy. That discussion will be ongoing I'm sure.  

     The last hot topic was how do we make a living doing this work. This included one caller who has a 3 week workshop focusing on advanced planning and the Five Wishes as part of her home funeral service. Great discussion about how we feel about doing this work and the decisions we all must make to support ourselves and the potential pitfalls of going too deeply into the legal aspects of end-of-life planning. One caller directed us to a Canadian website called Speak Up which is part of an advanced planning campaign started by their government (I think).

    As we were going around with final thoughts and feedback someone said that the call was helpful on many levels but for her it had been important to be a part of a conversation that we don't get to have every day. I felt similarly.

     I wanted to remind you all of our Mentoring Program. Heather, Donna and I are offering our support and experience to anyone who wants/needs it. Please see the Member Resource page for more details. There are a bunch more things I'm supposed to remind you all of but I have to go away and refer to an email I received and then come back.

     Again, I look forward to feedback about my very first blogging experience!

 

Peg     

 

This book, "The Party of Your Life: Get the Funeral You Want by Planning It Yourself," is a very funny, slightly irreverent guide to funeral planning. There is a nice section on home funerals and Erika Dillman (the author) spoke with Nora Cedarwood and me to make sure she represented the home funeral movement well. I enjoyed reading the book because it expanded my ideas of what could be included in a funeral, and particularly a home funeral.

Hello all NHFA members!

Three years ago my cousin's son was stillborn.  His partner Lisa brought the baby home to say hello and good-bye.  Her story of spending time with him is beautiful.  The comments however, reveal our culture's fear and discomfort of being with the dead.
http://life.salon.com/2011/10/07/my_stillborn_childs_life_after_death/singleton/

Dear Friends,
What a great conference!  Thank you to all the organizers, presenters, volunteers, and attendees.  It was a great time of sharing.
Here is another place to share.  Feel free to add a post and let us know what's on your mind.
Sincerely,
Merilynne Rush, Membership Chair

I am looking for a recommendation.
An acquaintance lost a son to a rare heart disorder.  He was in his early 20's.  The grief is complicated because he also had multiple other issues, including drug abuse.
Can anyone recommend an appropriate source of comfort in the early stages of grief (books)?  I will recommend hospice and other support groups also.
Thanks,
Merilynne

The National Home Funeral Alliance conference is Sept. 21-24, 2011 in Boulder. I have attended all three conferences and love the information that is shared. But more than that I love connecting and getting to know others who are involved in home funerals across the country. Each person has a slightly different perspective to share and I always get great ideas from talking with others over lunch or between sessions.

This year at the conference there will be a strong focus on Hospices and how home funeral guides can work within and through them. Personally, I see a home funeral as a natural extension of hospice and I volunteer for hospice in all ways that I can (visiting patients, Threshold Singing, Bath Angel, Pet Angel, 11^th Hour Volunteer, etc.). I'll be doing a special breakout session at the NHFA conference on how we, as home funeral guides, can interface with local hospices and serve them … but also use that as an opportunity to get the message out about home funerals.

Thank you,

Donna Belk

CrossingsCircle.org | BeyondHospice.com