PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Office of the Victim Advocate has launched a program designed to help families of homicide victims pay for a proper burial of their loved ones.
The Homicide Victim Funeral Assistance program provides up to $2,000 in financial assistance, paid directly to service providers who apply through the Office of the Victim Advocate.
“This is a streamlined way for us to be able to coordinate during the crisis by removing one layer of stress during one of the most traumatic experiences that a family can face,” said Mayor Cherelle Parker.
“This program was born out of listening,” said victim advocate Adara Combs, “listening to mothers planning funerals while still in shock, listening to fathers being handed invoices before they even process their loss, listening to siblings, children’s grandparents trying to crowdsource, borrow your costs, while navigating detectives, autopsies, trauma.”
Darlene Wilson Bennett, who lost her son, Justin, to violence 17 years ago, was surprised to learn that her insurance plan deemed him ineligible for funeral coverage.
“He was taken from me, without warning and without financial assistance,” said Justin’s sister, Destiny Sistrunk. “While no one was to blame for Justin’s death but his murderers, it often felt as though my family was being punished for something that had happened to us.”
The average cost of a funeral with a viewing and a burial is more than $8,000, a sudden cost burden that only adds to a co-homicide survivor’s grief and trauma.
“Philadelphia is saying grief is not a bill you should have to carry alone,” said Adam Geer, director of the Office of Public Safety. “If you lose a loved one to a homicide, we will continue to walk with you side by side, hand in hand, and shoulder some of this tremendous burden.”
Philadelphia allocated $600,000 to fund the program annually. Combined with other assistance programs offered by the state, victims’ families can now apply for up to $8,500 in total aid between the city and state funding.