How Can You Support Community Deathwork?

Learn more about home funerals

  • Check out our Home Funeral Guide, available on a pay-what-you-can basis. NHFA is currently updating its other materials about home funerals. Check back soon!
  • Browse articles, videos, how-to manuals, press coverage and more in the Resources section.
  • If you want more support, find home funeral educators in your area or online using our Directory.

Research your local laws and the barriers to home funerals

  • If you're in the United States, visit our US State Requirements for Home Funerals page
  • Connect with your local Funeral Consumers Alliance chapter. Find a chapter in your state, talk to them, see what they have available about home funerals. If they do an annual funeral home price list survey, obtain a copy of it so you know what funeral homes are charging in your area for their various services.

Connect to the home funeral community

  • Become a member of the NHFA (it's free) so you can receive monthly updates and stay current with leading thoughts and recommended practices for home funerals.
  • Join us for one of our monthly Deathcare Community Chats, open to all!
  • Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, & LinkedIn for up-to-date stories, news and more.
  • Connect with other community deathcare advocates at an upcoming NHFA conference (future dates coming soon!).

Talk about home funerals

  • Find groups or Meetups in your area that are already discussing the topic of death and dying (such as Death Cafes).
  • Meet with your friends and share the idea of home funerals and see if you can answer their questions. The questions you can't answer are the important ones because they let you know where you need more information.

Share your opinion

  • Write an editorial in the local paper about the benefits of home funerals.
  • Get on a local radio show to talk about your experiences with home funerals.
  • Host a group that discusses the issues around death and dying. Perhaps there is a green cemetery in your area or interest in that to use as a starting point. Or gather friends for a study group or a book or film club.
  • Offer a free public talk at a library or church, or an informative lunch-and-learn to a hospice in your area.

Advocate

  • Send a letter to your policymakers about supporting the choice to have a home funeral.

Become a local resource

  • As opportunities for sharing and education develop, you can serve your community as a point or go-to person about home funerals. Create your own website. You'll find great ideas by reviewing websites that other home funeral guides have created (Just remember to respect their right to content—be sure to create yours in your own words and style.)