Navigating the death of someone close to you is not an easy journey. But as deathcare guides, we’re here to help you through the process. We wrote this series to help answer some questions that might arise, and to give you a sense of what it’s like to work with us at KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony. Here’s part two. (You can read part one, on how we differ from other funeral homes, here.)
It’s not uncommon for our first interaction with a client to be when death is imminent or has just occurred. There’s often a feeling of anxiousness about timelines and the speed at which things have to happen. So, in those initial conversations, we typically let families know that whatever emergency may exist (or has existed) will soon be over or has ended. We encourage them to take some time just to be in their new reality and let them know that we are there to help guide them through the next steps.
Most importantly, we are always aware of how overwhelming it can be to ask too many questions or provide too many decisions for them to make right away. With that in mind, we assure them that we will answer all of their questions when they are ready and that we will move at a pace that is comfortable for them. We know that there is a lot to deal with, but we always break it down into bite-sized pieces to address any urgent requests and tasks before addressing the other requirements.
Our first task is usually to take care of transporting the deceased person from their place of death either to KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony to be cared for, or to a private home for a home vigil or home funeral. We are available to help with this 24/7, 365 days a year.
Next, we set a meeting with the family of the deceased. We offer to do that in person at KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony or at a location of their choice. We have met client families in hospital private areas, hotel rooms, private homes, cafés, libraries… you name it! We can also do a combination of phone/video calls, emails and in-person – whatever works best for our clients.
During that meeting, we usually get into those deep conversations around the values and choices of the deceased and their family. We discuss how KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony can support them while respecting their choices, as well as how families can participate in the physical care of the deceased person if they so choose. We let them know that Rebecca or Ngaio are available to help if they want KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony to take care of physical care on their behalf.
Another topic of conversation is the importance of ceremony and ritual and how KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony can help with that. This might mean helping to plan a ceremony that will take place at a later date in a particular venue, or we can simply provide information to help clients do their own ceremony planning.
We also coordinate and plan for the chosen disposition option, whether it’s cremation, burial (green burial or conventional burial) or terramation, and take care of getting the deceased to the crematorium, cemetery, or terramation facility. Usually, Rebecca or Ngaio will drive the deceased to where they need to go. If cremation is chosen, we offer to either hand-deliver the ashes to the family or invite them to come to KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony to collect them.
Then, we might talk about documents, administration, and resources. We provide estate planning resources, government benefit applications and grief resources, and offer an online obituary notice placement on our website as well as helping families place a notice in newspapers.
After meeting with the client, we look after the tedious but necessary documentation and administration needs, only involving the family in what they need to sign.
All in all, both Rebecca and Ngaio are very hands-on all the way through, providing consistency for client families and peace of mind that the staff they meet at KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony are the people who do most of the work and look after everything.
Our gratitude goes out to clients like Heather, whose feedback reaffirms all the choices we’ve made in establishing how we work.
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