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Please
You may now dedicate your gift to someone who has made a difference in the world, or simply celebrate an important event in your life on our website IN HONOR OF
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Join a committee!
Conference & Events:
Peg Lorenz &
Kristine Bentz
Education: Susan Oppie &
Anne Murphy
Fundraising:
Sara Williams &
Anne Murphy
Finance: Lynn Barnett
Legislative:
Peg Lorenz &
Sarah Crews
Membership:
Zalene Corey &
Sarah Crews
Public Relations:
Lee Webster, Donna Belk & Kateyanne Unullisi
Many hands make light work, as home funeral guides know. If you'd like to be part of any committee, you can join any time by contacting the chair. Go to Board & Committees on our website for contact information. Welcome!
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Resources Revisited
DOWNLOAD YOUR NHFA MEMBER LOGO
Let everyone know you are a member of the NHFA by putting a member logo on brochures, letters-anywhere that will help promote awareness. Log in to the NHFA webpage and go to Member Resources to download!
GET YOUR EVENT LISTED AND SEEN!
Drum up some interest in your home funeral- or green burial-specific event by sending us a one-page poster. Any Word doc or PDF will do as long as it's in a standard 8.5 x 11 format.
First we'll post it on our website page, and then on our Facebook page. The most Liked posts on our page are your posters. And Like us while you're here!
GREEN BURIAL CEMETERIES IN THE US & CANADA
Check back frequently on our Green Burial website page for the most up-to-date list of green burial cemeteries. New entries are being added as they come online. Cemeteries must be verifiable by phone or website. If you know of a cemetery that accepts body-to-earth burial, let us know!
THE GREEN BURIAL COUNCIL WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU
Are you interested in receiving newsletters and updates about the latest green burial news from the top authority in the world? Subscribe today by going to the Green Burial Council Facebook page and click on Newsletter Signup!
 JOIN OUR DIRECTORIES * Are you a home funeral guide eager to help families?
* Are you a funeral director supporting home funeral families and guides?
* Are you a minister or celebrant willing to make home visits and conduct ceremonies for home funeral families?
* Do you enjoy speaking to church groups, schools, civic organizations about the benefits of home funerals?
Join our directories any time! Go to the for directions |
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The NHFA IS its members. We join the NHFA to be part of a movement that is bigger than ourselves and find strength in each others' spirit. Please join us in welcoming new home funeral advocates, and honoring those who have been with the NHFA from the start in our new feature called Member Spotlight. We want to hear YOUR story! Please introduce yourself or welcome the call when it comes!
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DEATH MIDWIFERY AND HOME FUNERALS
by Cassandra Yonder
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"I believe that the most effective way to accomplish this is to remain present at the time of death to whatever extent one is able and to take part in the changes that occur in relationships when our loved ones die by taking an active role in the ordinary everyday things that lead to the disposition of their bodies."
To read more, go to this excerpt of Cassandra Yonder's essay from the upcoming book Journey's End: Death, Dying, and the End of Life, written, compiled, and edited by Victoria Brewster, MSW and Julie Saeger Nierenberg, MA Ed with an anticipated release date of Spring 2015.
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Sara Michelson
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 We are introducing a new monthly feature to help connect us all to other members. This month we begin with an interview with Sara Michelson, a Waldorf preschool teacher from Decatur, Georgia with a mission to help others learn about the healing benefits of home funeral. If you are interested in participating, please let Zalene Corey know at zcc@gentlepassages.com.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
DEATH DIY VIDEO
BY HOLLY PRUETT AND NANCY WARD
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To see the video, go to Vimeo
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I awoke with a dream
knowing how Stonehenge was raised
how the monoliths were moved
into sacred formation
I saw us in the dream
each a heavy weight
of grief or stories or pain
a monolith of life
then we are raising each other up
lifting each other as witness
carrying each other's pain
honoring each other's story
and in the dream
the monolith of each
became like a feather
with the love of the others
and we were each held up
in formations of circles
in the light of dawn
like Stonehenge
I awoke on a holy night morning
knowing love can lift the stones
community can hold the circle
and bring the new dawn
Linda Bergh is a psychologist emeritus and education professor, Waldorf teacher and Biography Facilitator, and a founding member of the Minnesota Threshold Network and a family-directed home funeral guide.
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JOIN OUR LEGISLATIVE TELECONFERENCES
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January 25th, 2015, 9 p.m. EST
featuring Funeral Consumer Alliance Director Josh Slocum, talking about the role of the FCA in regards to legislation. He will also talk about ways that the FCA and NHFA can work together, tell a few success stories and continue the conversation, begun with Carolyn, about how regular folks can impact the legislative system.
MEMBERS: Log on to the NHFA website and go to Member Resources for the call number and directions.
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STILL NEED YOUR HELP FINDING DEATH CERTIFICATES FOR YOUR STATE
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 Whether filing through a town or city official, electronically, or in person, having all the correct information required for a death certificate is a huge relief and time saver for families. We are developing worksheets that families can fill out well ahead of time so they are not scrambling to find veteran's records and such. Please help us with YOUR STATE.
Where to find your state's death certificate? You may find an actual death certificate online through your Department of Vital Records. You are more likely to find the process for purchasing copies of already completed ones for someone who has died - this is not what we need. Contact your hospice, doctor's office, hospital, or the state office and ask for an original form. You can mail it to PO Box 456, Holderness NH 03245, or scan and email it to nhfa.paper@gmail.com. Thanks!
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JOIN OUR MONTHLY TELECONFERENCES
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Sunday, January 11 p.m. EST
Sunday, February 8 p.m. EST
Don't miss the chance to talk with other home funeral advocates and ask questions person-to-person on our monthly member teleconferences every second Sunday of the month.
MEMBERS: You must log on to the NHFA website for access information on the Member Resources page.
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CLARIFYING OUR ROLES
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Home funeral guides and death midwives often ask what the legal parameters are for their services. The NHFA Board is currently working on several projects that will help define this more precisely. In the meantime, the US Federal Trade Commission enforces The Funeral Rule, an easy-to read document that is very informative for guides as well as licensed funeral directors. Here is a sample section:
Who Must Comply With the Funeral Rule?
All "funeral providers" must comply with the Rule. You are a funeral provider if you sell or offer to sell both funeral goods and funeral services to the public. Funeral goods are all products sold directly to the public in connection with funeral services. Funeral services are:
- services used to care for and prepare bodies for burial, cremation, or other final disposition; and
- services used to arrange, supervise, or conduct the funeral ceremony or final disposition of human remains.
You are a funeral provider if you sell or offer to sell funeral goods and both types of funeral services. You do not have to be a licensed funeral director and your business does not have to be a licensed funeral home to be covered by the Funeral Rule. To read more, go to Complying With the Funeral Rule and look for more home-funeral specific info here soon.
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SAVE THE DATE!
2015 NHFA BIENNIAL CONFERENCE
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Courage, Confidence, and Connections:
Home Funerals Now!
5th NHFA Conference
October 2-4, 2015
Los Gatos, California
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Dear Reader,
We join you in welcoming a new year of service to home funeral families everywhere. Thanks for all you do to keep this cherished right and privilege alive. As always, we are eager to hear your thoughts and interests to share here with our members and friends. Let us hear from you soon!
National Home Funeral Alliance
nhfa.paper@gmail.com
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