Threshold Care Circle Threshold Care Circle – Integrating after-death care into community life

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A home funeral ritual is not a new concept. Generations before us have cared for their own at home. The Threshold Care Circle can help lead us back to the traditional folkways of a home vigil and family-directed funeral. By guiding families through home funerals, families can take the time they need to grieve in a familiar environment. Within the comfort of home, family members experience less fear of death and they are free to mourn in a simple way that deeply honors the experience.

The Threshold Care Circle exists as a community network and resource for Southwestern Wisconsin. Our mission is to educate individuals and families who wish to care for their own at the time of death, according to their spiritual and/or cultural beliefs, in ways that honor the one who is crossing the threshold and the surviving loved ones.

We provide educational materials, group presentations and family consultations that prepare and empower individuals and the community to care for their dead at home, enabling them to carry out a home or family-directed funeral, with or without the services of a funeral director.

The Threshold Care Circle was formed in January of 2006 in Viroqua,Wisconsin. We came together to educate and train ourselves in caring for the dead at home. Members of our group have received training from JerriGrace Lyons of Final Passages, Linda Bergh, and Nancy Poer.

We believe that the funeral choices people make today will influence attitudes toward death for generations to come. Our work is part of a social movement toward more conscious and meaningful end-of-life rituals.

Did you Know…

• The average cost of a funeral in the U.S. ($6,500 not including burial plot) is almost three times that in Great Britain ($1,650) and more than twice what it is in France ($2,200) or Australia ($2,100).
• In almost every state, a family member can act as the funeral director when a loved one dies.
• It is legal to have the deceased lay in honor in the home of the family or a friend (1 to 3 days is usual).
• Embalming is NOT necessary for public health reasons and is not legally required except in rare circumstances.
• Simple measures, easily performed by a family member, can preserve the appearance and sanitary condition of the body.
• Friends and family can construct their own simple coffin or decorate a cardboard cremation container in any way they wish.
• A funeral home is required to accept any casket provided by the family at no additional charge.

To find out more about family-directed home funerals, contact the Threshold Care Circle, 500 East Jefferson Street, Suite 202, Viroqua WI 54665
Phone 608-606-8060