Help is available with COVID-19 funeral costs

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Losing a loved one unexpectedly due to COVID-19 can be a difficult experience, both emotionally and financially.

The sudden expenses of a funeral service and burial can have an impact on families that can last for years.

But local funeral directors want people to know there will be financial help available starting Monday.

Two pieces of legislation recently passed by Congress — the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 — authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide financial assistance to families who incurred funeral expenses related to COVID-19.

The assistance covers a maximum of $9,000 in funeral expenses that occurred after Jan. 20, 2020.

“It’s another outreach program that is very beneficial,” said Schrock-Funeral Home Funeral Director Kirk Melenyzer. “You see the individual stimulus package, but this is a program that is both economic-related and COVID-related. I think it’s a very reassuring thing for families who were financially burdened by COVID.”

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