Columbus funeral chapel swamped with FEMA calls
Calls about a new program meant to reimburse people who have paid funeral costs of those who died of COVID-19 are supposed to go the federal agency that’s running the program.
Some of them are instead ending up at a Columbus funeral home.
About 30 to 50 calls an hour from across the country have been going to the Newcomer Cremations Funerals & Receptions chapel on the Northeast side at 3047 E. Dublin-granville Road since the assistance program was announced Monday, spokesman Jeremy Lamb said.
The problem still had not been resolved as of Wednesday morning.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is running the program, which provides up to $9,000 reimbursement to people who paid for funerals of those whose deaths can be attributed to COVID-19 after Jan. 20, 2020. The program is part of the $1.9 trillion relief package passed by Congress this year.
FEMA said its call center has received thousands of calls since the program went into effect Monday morning, and that has been causing some technical issues.
“Some applicants are reaching operators, while others are receiving a busy signal,” the agency said. “We ask that applicants be patient as we work to correct these issues and have all their important documents ready when they call to apply.”
Why the calls are going to the funeral home isn’t clear. Lamb said the funeral home is being told it’s some kind of technical issue.
Callers tell the funeral home that they were on hold with FEMA and then the call got transferred to the funeral home.
Lamb said the funeral home is directing the calls back to FEMA while also trying to help callers.
“For us, we want to make sure people know we’re doing the best we can. We’re here to help,” he said.
The company is based in Topeka, Kansas, and has operations in 10 states. mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams