New help for families of Covid-19 victims as FEMA launches funeral reimbursement program

Seattle, WA — A new relief program launched Monday for people who lost loved ones to COVID-19 and had to plan a funeral during the pandemic. FEMA will pay up to $9,000 per funeral.

But for families grieving families like Raymond Lee’s, this is about so much more than money.

We met Lee under the shelter of cherry trees at Seattle’s Lakeview Cemetery.

“I’m just burning some incense to pay respect for my sisters and my mom,” he says, fanning the smoke across his family plot.

It’s Raymond’s first time there, since his sisters and mom died of Covid-19 last year.

“These deaths - of my sisters and my mom is just too much for me. So I could not bring myself to come up here,” says Lee.

Regina came home from work with a cough in March of 2020. Willa and mom Susie, who lived with her, got sick soon after.

“I lost Regina. Then my mom. And then Willa. Just, it was just a downward catastrophic chaos for me. Losing three people within two weeks. Just incredible,” says Raymond.

A financial hit

And then Raymond was laid off.

“Just - everything was just snowballing. It was just insane,” he remembers.

All the while, Raymond says his family paid over $30,000 for burial services limited by Covid-19 gathering restrictions.

“My youngest sister, Regina - the funeral - it was, I was outside on the street. We watched the hearse drive by. They closed the gate. That was it. They sent us a picture of the coffin and the flowers they laid,” says Lee.

But now the Federal Emergency Management Agency - or FEMA - is offering families like Raymond’s some relief through a reimbursement program.

Help for families

Family members can apply to get up to $9,000 per funeral back - $35,000 total - for these expenses, among others:

• Cremation or interment
• Caskets or urns
• Headstones
• Burial plot or niche
• Costs related to funeral ceremonies - equipment, staff, clergy

Victor Fitch is President of Dayspring and Fitch Funeral Home in Seattle. He says the reimbursement can be a lifeline.

“But having some funds like this come back into the family, it can be a real game changer to get some life started again,” says Fitch.

Fitch says he’s seen how hard Covid-19 has hit communities of color, where it’s common to have multiple generations live together under one roof.

“We had situations in these communities like a service for a grandmother one week, and two weeks later a service for a mother in the same family,” says Fitch.

Across town, Scott Sheehan is General Manager of Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park. He says he’s also seen families struggle with expenses over the last year.

“I was fascinated because I’d never heard of a program quite like this before. But I immediately recognized how many people it can potentially help,” says Sheehan.

Call-in applications only

There are residency requirements for applicants, but the person who died does not have to have been a U.S. citizen. The death itself just had to happen on U.S. soil after January 20, 2020. And families will need to call in to a hotline to apply:

844-684-6333 | TTY: 800-462-7585

Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday - 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time

The application will take some work: families will need to gather paperwork like death certificates listing Covid-19 as a cause of death, along with receipts. This FAQ page can help.

But Sheehan says he and his colleagues are ready to help.

“We can help guide them a little bit. We’re kind of an intermediary if you will,” says Sheehan.

Back at Lakeview Cemetery with Raymond Lee, he says he misses cooking for his sisters and mom.

“I think about them every day,” says Lee.

FEMA reimbursement will help repair his finances.

“Every little bit helps,” says Lee.

But not his heart.

“There’s always going to be a huge hole in my chest right now,” he says.

According to FEMA, the hotline got close to one million calls in the first 90 minutes, leaving some with busy signals or dropped calls. A FEMA spokesperson says callers should be patient and keep trying the line. The agency has more than 5,000 people ready to take calls.

Cox Media Group