Our Mission:
To promote informed advance planning for funeral and memorial arrangements
- We are an education and advocacy organization run by an all volunteer board.
- We are not affiliated with the funeral industry or any religious groups.
- We educate the public on their rights and options when planning for and/or purchasing funeral goods and services.
- We encourage people to plan arrangements that are in keeping with their personal wishes and budget, and then share that information with their survivors.
- We provide written information on a wide variety of end-of-life related issues including: advance directives and health care proxies, how to put your financial house in order, hospice, burial, green burial, cremation, body, tissue and organ donation, embalming, viewing, funeral and memorial services, prices, how to choose a funeral home, and more…
- We hold our own informative annual conference, open to the public.
- We are available for personal phone consultations to answer your questions and help you make plans.
- We encourage pre-planning, but not pre-paying (except under certain circumstances).
- We serve people of all ages and encourage generations to talk to one another about mortality and planning for death.
- We are a member of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a national federation of funeral consumer information societies. Visit them at www.funerals.org
Annual Conferences, Events and Meetings
Board of Directors:
Isabel Knight is a designer and end of life doula who grew up in Connecticut, went to school at Swarthmore College, and lived in Washington DC for a number of years after college. She now lives in West Philly, co-hosts a podcast called I’M THE VILLAIN, and plays ultimate frisbee in her free time. You can see her work at isabelknight.com.
Kyle Tevlin spent most of her life in northern NJ, was a fine arts major at Smith College and worked for most of her career as a graphic designer. She currently lives in Chester County, PA. She is the founder of www.iwantafunfuneral.com, has been a hospice volunteer and event producer, and recently became a co-facilitator of a local Death Cafe.
Patrick Walker is a graduate of Ursinus College and Princeton Theological Seminary with concentrations in Psychology and Urban Ministry. He is an ordained Elder in the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has served in the Division of Mental Health & Hospitals in New Jersey, a Parish Pastor in York County, and as the Executive Director of the York County Council of Churches. For the past fourteen years He has been a Community Engagement Specialist with Church World Service. He currently serves on the Board of the Family Health Council of Central PA.
Rachel Zeldin is a Philadelphia native & graduate of Drexel University. Following 5 years working in finance, she switched to pursue the start of a funeral planning platform that she wished her family had when her great uncle died. Founder and owner of Funerals360 (formerly I’m Sorry to Hear), her goal is to provide equal access to information on funeral planning and encourage the sharing of personal funeral planning experiences. She is also co-founder & former hostess of Death Cafe Philadelphia.
