Clergy and funeral directors unite to fight for burial funds

 

By Chinta Strausberg

 

Ministers and funeral directors are holding a meeting 12 noon Tuesday, October 18, 2011, at the Liberty Baptist Church, 49^th and King Drive, to give instructions on how to lobby legislators to support the budgeted $10 million needed to restore burial funds for the poor who simply want to bury their love ones with dignity and respect.

Referring to the General Assembly’s not passing funds to bury the indigent and Cook County officials threatening to donate unclaimed bodies to science, Leak said, “This important moral issue could at any time impact each and everyone of us in this challenging economy. Human dignity should not only be recognized in life but also in death.”

“We support and we applaud Governor Pat Quinn for restoring the burial funds and now we have to get the General Assembly to approve these monies that were discontinued on August 15^th,” said Spencer Leak, Sr., president/CEO of the Leak & Sons Funeral Home.

“The discontinuance of these burial funds has created a crisis in the funeral industry,” said Leak explaining without burial funds their love ones have had to remain in the Morgue as unclaimed.

And, that has caused yet another pressing problem to the grieving relatives, and it is a slap in the face of W. Earl Lewis, who was once homeless, but who established the Interfaith Memorial Observance for Indigent Persons in 1986. Lewis, who has since died, didn’t want the homeless to “live and die” alone. The annual memorial service honors the lives of poor people buried by the Cook County Morgue.

But, thanks to a 100-year-old law, that’s now changed.

“The Morgue is seeking to restrict an unclaimed deceased person’s stay in the Morgue to two-weeks. After two-weeks, they will release their bodies for medical research and possible harvesting of organs, and they are using a 126-year law to do this,” said Leak referring to the 1885 Illinois Cadaver Act.

He was referring to Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Nancy Jones who reportedly said that the families who can’t afford to pay for a burial would see their love one’s bodies donated to science after a two-week unclaimed period. Prior to imposing this law, the County paid $300 for these bodies to be bury in a segregated area in Homewood.

Already, the Anatomical Gift Association has reportedly agreed to accept the bodies it needs to shore up its donors.

Rev. Dr. Johnny Miller, pastor of the Mt. Vernon Church, said, “In light of so many people who are coming to us when they don’t have money to bury their love ones, we are thankful at this juncture that the Governor has put back $10 million to bury the indigent.

“We’re praying that the legislator get onboard,” said Miller referring to Gov. Quinn’s restoring $10 million for indigent burials that needs to be approved by state lawmakers.” This is a rough time for the country right now, and this restoration of these funds is in the right direction. While I am hoping that one day people will become self-sufficient, right now we need these burial funds,” said Miller.

“Restoration of these burial funds will help people secure the state stipend of $1,103 restoration of these funds will enable them to seek a funeral home service. While $1,103 is not that much, still it will allow them to seek the services of a funeral director,” said Leak.

Leak said the public is also invited to attend Tuesday’s meeting. “We are trying to enlist everyone to call their elected official to restore those funds,” said Leak.

For more information, contact Spencer Leak, Sr. at 1-773-846-6567.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.