Resources

We’ve put together some links from friends and supporters of In the Parlor. Most of the resources are related to alternative death care in some way.

Funeral Consumer Resources

Funeral Consumers Alliance
FCA is a nonprofit organization committed to protecting the rights of consumers to choose how their families or their own funerals are carried out. This is accomplished by monitoring the funeral industry, serving as a consumer advocate for regulatory reform, and disseminating information to consumers.

 

Heart2Soul
Heart2Soul provides information about funeral planning and traditions, as well as an online tool for connecting with family and friends during the time of one’s death.

 

National Home Funeral Alliance
NHFA offers extensive information for planning home funerals.

Home Funeral, Consumer Rights, End of Life Books

Dying Made Easy(er) by Myra Bennett
In the book, Dying Made Easy(er) Myra guides us through the diverse phases and considerations of the end of life by an experienced traveler who’s spent many hours “as a guest in the sacred place of dying.” Bennett, a hospice nurse and end-of-life guide, who has also grappled with death in her personal life, invites us to contemplate dying from many different angles: legal, social, physical, psychological, and spiritual.

Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death by Josh Slocum & Lisa Carlson
Synopsis: Final Rights is the definitive book for consumers on the modern funeral industry and how to navigate it. Part investigative report and part practical guide, the book explains in detail the tricks of the funeral trade, and how to avoid being victimized. And for those who wish to take charge of the funeral themselves without using a funeral home, Final Rights will show you how, with a chapter on each state’s requirements written in plain English.

Embracing the End of Life: A Journey into Dying & Awakening by Patt Lind-Kyle MA
In Embracing the End of Life: A Journey into Dying & Awakening, Patt guides us through practices for embracing death and meditation to awaken the mind to its true self in this life. Her seminal book, Heal Your Mind, Rewire Your Brain, applies new science in practical ways, by giving us a training program to re-pattern our behavior and thereby change the ways our brain is wired. Heal Your Mind, Rewire Your Brain, won two First Place Gold Medals in Health and Wellness, Psychology/Mental Health and a Second Place and Finalist Award in Self Help.

Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial by Mark Harris
Grave Matters follows twelve families that chose to take control of funeral arrangements for loved ones rather than letting funeral homes handle it. The arrangements for each funeral were different, but each incorporated aspects of green burial and home funerals. The book also describes the embalming process, the environmental impacts of traditional funerals, and the history of burial in the US.

Living Into Dying: A Journal of Spiritual and Practical Deathcare for Family and Community by Nancy Poer
Synopsis: Few people are aware they have a choice to care for their loved ones at death and the care for the body at home afterward. Not only is it possible and legal but has often given deep fulfillment and closure for those who have done so. In addition, there are considerable financial savings. This book, abundantly illustrated, gives each practical step in the process of care and also tells many heart warming stories of families and communities that have received blessings from the dying and, in return, have honored them with this final act of love. Written in a warm and accessible style, the book includes many spiritual insights into the process of dying and our connection to loved ones after they die.

Funeral Homes in Sacramento

Chapel of the Valley   |   Elk Grove Funeral Chapel
These funeral homes often work with home funeral clients and are therefore familiar with their needs.

Natural Burial Cemetery

Steelmantown Cemetery
Steelmantown Cemetery in Steelmantown New Jersey is certified as a natural burial ground by the Green Burial Council.

Friends of In the Parlor

Laura Scappaticci
Toula Saratsis
Wendy Baker Photography
Lauren Forcella Portfolio
Nancy Poer, Lecturer, Author
Sakura Ridge Resort
Straight Talk Teens N Twenties