A Seat at the Table
Why Funeral Service Professionals Belong in Every Community’s Crisis Response Plan
ABOUT THE GUIDE
When crisis strikes a community, you are among the first called and among the last to leave, caring for the deceased with dignity and staying with families from the first hours through memorialization and beyond. Yet funeral service professionals are too often left out of the planning that shapes how a community responds, grieves, and heals.
A Seat at the Table: Why Funeral Service Professionals Belong in Every Community’s Crisis Response Plan is the Foundation’s newest community care resource. It makes the case for including funeral service in crisis planning, shows what skills and training you bring to the table, and gives community leaders a checklist and questions to start the conversation.
Made possible by the Foundation’s Crisis Response Fund, this guide was shaped by funeral service, grief support, and emergency management professionals, with a foreword by Annette March-Grier, registered nurse, Certified Funeral Service Practitioner, and President and Co-Founder of Roberta’s House.
Includes a Free Getting Started Letter
Every order of A Seat at the Table includes a downloadable letter from the Funeral Service Foundation team, with tips for getting the most out of this crisis response resource. After checkout, you can download the PDF from your order confirmation page or your receipt email.
ORDER FREE COPIES
Start the conversation with the people who plan your community’s response, before a crisis happens.
Offer the guide to mayors, emergency managers, and community leaders to begin building relationships.
Share it with local emergency management agencies, public health departments, coroners and medical examiners, hospitals, first responders, and faith and community leaders.
Embed the e-book on your website. Free, just submit your information to receive the code.
HOW TO USE THE GUIDE
This booklet is written for community leaders, so the best way to use it is to share it with them yourself. Inside, they will find what funeral service brings to the table, a checklist for including you in planning, and questions to ask their local funeral service professionals.
Start with the people who plan for emergencies in your community, and do it before a crisis happens, not during one. Depending on where you live, that may be your city or county emergency manager, your local office of emergency management, a regional crisis communications planning committee, or your mayor’s office.
You may already know some of these leaders. If you don’t, this booklet is your opening: a reason to introduce yourself, share what your profession offers, and start a conversation about how you can be included in local planning. It is also your opportunity to lead, to be the person in your community who brought funeral service to the table before it was asked to be there.
Remembering A Life is your guide to honoring a life well-lived, from planning a tribute to mourning a loved one. Because celebrating a life can be both remarkable and unique, Remembering a Life offers comprehensive resources to help you create a meaningful funeral or memorial service, providing the opportunity to reflect, remember, and begin the grieving process.
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