Great How to do a home funeral animated video

Check out this animated video giving a great overview of the basics of a home funeral.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdALkMU94ME

Annual letter 2010 from Natural Transitions' director

I want to emphasize the myriad ways in which we are working to open hearts and minds. There is our direct work, guiding those searching for a meaningful way to acknowledge loss. We are there for them whether or not they are able to conduct a home vigil with the body.

Over the last year, we have guided families facing the trauma of loss from suicide. In these instances, our role was to provide ideas around “being with death” and after-death ritual that could cultivate hope for healing. There was no “home funeral” but with these families, we co-created a meaningful, beautiful ritual without the body present.

Natural Transitions was once again responsible for hosting a national conference on holistic and green funerary care – Building Bridges to Bring Death Care Back Home, which attracted nearly 100 participants from all over the country. We were also the catalyst for the formation of the National Home Funeral Alliance, uniting home death care advocates from around the country.

Our plans for the new year include:

A new, multilevel certificate program in End of Life Transition Guidance – February 25,26,27 2010

Community workshops on Advance Directives for end of life care

A magazine on end-of-life issues

An educational film series on dying, death and after-death care

We have flourished this long with the generosity of a community of supporters. We’d like to be there for you, your family, and your community, safeguarding your rights and helping you navigate the terrain of deathcare in a way that brings healing and peace.

Your tax deductible contribution is so valuable to us! Please use the enclosed envelope for your convenience.

In peace,

Karen van Vuuren – Executive Director/Founder, Natural Transitions

New Training in End-of-Life Transition Guidance

Natural Transitions announces a new multi-level training in End-of-Life Transition Guidance. The level one training will take place this February, 25,26 and 27, 2011, in Boulder, Colorado. The training is for lay persons and caregiving professionals and offers education to support peaceful and conscious dying - and a meaningful, healing approach to after-death care including green, home funerals.

National Green and Home Funeral Conference Success

The October 3 national conference was an overwhelming success. Practitioners and educators from all over the US attended to learn from each other and to network. A few open-minded funeral directors came to learn more and Char Barrett, licensed funeral director from Seattle, WA bridged the gap for us between the industry and the home funeral movement.

You can learn more about this amazing event that really galvanized the home and green funeral movement in the US by visiting http://www.naturaltransitions.org/naturaltranstions/Conference_09.html. There is a report of the presenters' sessions - Billy Campbell of Ramsey Creek Preserve conservation burial site, Beth Knox of Crossings, and more.

Fort Collins Colorado - City Council gives green light to green cemetery

Fort Collins' city council (Colorado) has given the green light to the designation of a green burial portion of an established cemetery. This marks the end of much deliberation by Fort Collins council members on how to provide an option that more and more funeral consumers are requesting for their loved-one's at death.

City cemetery manager, Phil Carpenter attended last year's Green Burial Conference hosted by non-profit educational support group, Natural Transitions. This year, Natural Transitions is hosting a broad-based conference bringing together the leading names in home funeral education in the US, including Beth Knox of Crossings, Maryland - and Char Barrett of A Sacred Moment, Seattle. You can read more and register for the October 3 conference at the Natural Transitions' website www.naturaltransitions.org - on the Conference 09 page.

Photo of Char Barrett of A Sacred Moment, WA

http://www.asacredmoment.com/

Big names in Home and Green funerals will be here

We are thrilled that Jerri Lyons of Final Passages has decided to join us as a participant at the 2009 National Home and Green Funeral Conference.  This is an amazing opportunity for us to host the leaders of this movement, network and grow.  If you are an advocate of green and home funerals as an option - or a passionate consumer, you need to attend this incredible event.

October 3 National Conference on Green and Home Funerals

Natural Transitions is bringing together some of the leading voices in the home and green funeral movement at this year's national conference (Ethics and Ecology) held in Boulder, Colorado. Presenters include the pioneers of the first, green burial preserve in the US, Billy Campbell MD and his wife, Kimberley who started Ramsey Creek Preserve in South Carolina.  Also part of the line up will be Beth Knox of Crossings, based in Maryland, and Char Barrett, a licensed funeral director with a difference, from Seattle, Washington.  We are hoping that this gathering will be an inspirational event for advocates and educators of home and green funerals as well as attracting open-minded and progressive thinkers from the conventional funeral industry.  More information and registration is available at http://www.naturaltransitions.org/naturaltranstions/Conference_09.html

For those with no or little direct experience of home funeral work, we are adding a mini workshop in the afternoon that will act as an introduction to the work in practice.