>> Funeral funding could offer ‘ a little bit of dignity’ to those who died from COVID- 19.
When Katie Coelho’s husband died of coronavirus in April, he left behind a note on his iPhone for her and their two children, thanking them for the life they had together.
The note made national news, but there was one part many overlooked: In addition to bidding his family goodbye, Jonathan Coelho left step- by- step instructions for his wife on how to file for his life insurance.
Though her husband’s life insurance was not approved for nearly seven months because of COVID- related backlogs, the Bethel family had money saved which allowed them to pay $ 5,000 for Jonathan’s cremation. But Coelho said she knows other people who had their loved ones sitting in funeral homes for months because they couldn’t afford to bury or cremate them and couldn’t access their life insurance.
“This is an unprecedented time,” Katie said. “There were so many decisions made and not handled properly by the local government in Connecticut. The least they can do is help these families that go through it. I understand we’re in a crazy time but there shouldn’t be almost 400,000 who passed away. They’re owed a little bit of dignity and they haven’t gotten it.”
Even before the pandemic hit, many struggled to pay for funeral expenses after unexpected deaths, according to David MacDonald, president of Wallingford Funeral Home and Yalesville Funeral Home and new president of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association. So as part of the CARES Act 2, the state is expected to give $ 41.4 million in federal relief funds for funeral benefits for families.
Gov. Ned Lamont said the state is “figuring out how to work with the funeral homes, churches, hospitals,” but Coelho said the funds could be a relief for families struggling with grief and unable to get life insurance quickly to help pay for funeral expenses.
“If we didn’t have our little nest egg, I don’t know how I would’ve been able to bring my husband home,” she said.
“That’s terrifying. ... When my husband passed away, a lot of funeral homes were inundated and I wanted my husband home as soon as I could. We were very lucky we had so many people reach out and donate to our family to keep the kids and I afloat. ”
MacDonald said there’s not a lot of information yet on how these funds would be distributed, but said he and other funeral home directors are “always eager” to assist families struggling to pay funeral costs.
“We hope it’s going to help, especially families who did run into unforeseen financial burden for the death of someone that was unexpected,” he said. “... There’s always a need for help, but in this case it’s more dramatic because on top of having this unexpected funeral expense, we have a lot of survivors not working the same amount or having their own financial troubles impacted by pandemic. There’s a lot of financial strain, so any expense is a relief.”
MacDonald said it’s too early to know where or who might obtain these funds.