Sacred Crossings Alternative Funeral Home

A home funeral is a family or community-centered response to death and after-death care. Most state laws support the right of the family to care for their own departed, including preparing the body for burial or cremation, planning and carrying out after-death rituals, filing death-related paperwork, transporting the deceased, and facilitating final disposition.

A vigil or wake is a period of time, usually 1-3 days, when the body is laying in honor while family and friends visit to pay their respects and say goodbye. The funeral service most often takes place in the home on the 3rd day of the vigil before the body is taken to the crematory or cemetery.

Home funeral guides are advocates for family-centered and family-led funerals. They impart knowledge that families may need to care for their own dead. Home funeral guides act as GUIDES and not directors, seeking to minimize involvement of anyone other than family and friends in after-death care, emphasizing minimal, non-invasive, and environmentally-friendly care of the body.

During a home funeral the family remains in charge from the moment of death until burial or cremation. A family can take as much time as they need to personally care for their loved one according to religious or cultural beliefs and traditions and the body can be viewed without being embalmed.

Home funerals foster community spirit, allow more time with the body helping families accept and integrate death, promote healing, help children integrate death into the cycle of life, and cost considerably less than traditional funerals because there are no costs for refrigeration, embalming, mortician fees, or parlor and chapel rentals.

Yes. In almost all 50 states, families have the legal right to care for loved ones after death, including taking the body home from hospitals, nursing facilities, or coroner if you have the necessary permits. Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York have various restrictions.

A death midwife is one who assists an individual and their family through the transition of death, just as a birth midwife assists the baby and mother through birth. A Sacred Crossings death midwife shepherds individuals toward a conscious dying experience, guides loved ones in after-death care, and empowers families to create personal and deeply meaningful funerals at home.

The body is carefully washed, dressed (or shrouded) and preserved with dry ice to prevent decomposition. Caring for an intact body naturally at home using gentle, non-invasive techniques poses far less potential hazards than one that is compromised and chemically treated at a funeral home.

A home funeral guide conducts in-home consultation, arrives at home upon notification of death (usually within 3 hours), educates and supports family with body care, preserves body with dry ice during the vigil, arranges casket delivery, helps complete paperwork, facilitates the funeral service in home or other venue, and arranges transport to cemetery or crematory.

No. In almost all states you have the legal right to act as the funeral director on behalf of your loved one, which includes completing and filing necessary paperwork. A Sacred Crossing Guide can support you through the entire process.

Yes. Children are naturally curious about death and look toward adults for guidance. Having the body prepared by caring relatives in the home is comforting for children and helps them accept and integrate death. Decorating the cremation box can be therapeutic for children, providing a creative outlet for feelings.

Although Sacred Crossings can assist at any time, it is advisable to make an appointment for a home consultation a few weeks or months before death is expected. A Home Funeral Guide will discuss wishes, answer questions, and help make necessary preparations.