Home  Join


Welcome to the Funeral Consumers Alliance of the Piedmont!


We are a chapter of the national organization Funeral Consumers Alliance. Our effort is to provide useful information for funeral planning, in particular, inexpensive and alternate options for residents of the North Carolina Piedmont area. To date our principle achievement is the publication of our price survey which assists consumers in shopping among local funeral services.

On this page we have also provided a number of links which you might find useful. As we receive new requests for information we continue to update our resource list. Please feel free to contact us for additional information.



Thanatology book club launched

FCA of the Piedmont is sponsoring the new Piedmont Triad Thanatology Book Club. Thanatology is the study of death and dying and all of its related aspects. We're organizing this book club for Piedmont Triad residents who hunger for a forum where they can feel comfortable discussing issues surrounding life's end. This group is likely to appeal to people of all ages who have a healthy curiosity about the practical, emotional and spiritual aspects of death and dying. Individuals who work in the social professions (e.g., social workers, educators, clergy, medical professionals), caregivers, students, creative elders, and those living with a life-limiting condition may be among those who would enjoy this group. Club members will choose the titles we'll read as well as how often we'll meet and where. Books to be studied will be diverse.

If you plan to attend the book club, RSVPs are requested. You can learn more about the book club and sign up as a member at 

http://www.meetup.com/Piedmont-Triad-Thanatology-Book-Club


 


FCA-Piedmont formed June 5, 2008 at a public meeting in Greensboro to address our mission:
 
To work together as informed consumers for after-death arrangements that embrace our needs, preferences and rights.
 
Let’s look at how our mission applies to you and your families.
 
We “work together,” because  everything we do is done by our members – from conducting periodic price and compliance studies of area funeral providers to advocating for funeral consumer rights in the North Carolina General Assembly. We are one of the most enthusiastic and active chapters in the nation already.
 
We want to be “informed consumers,” because we know that an informed consumer is a smart consumer. Do you know you have the right to obtain a general price list from any funeral provider you visit, without obligation? Do you know you can provide your own inexpensive casket from an outside source or make your own? Do you know that embalming is never required by North Carolina law?

We research all “after-death arrangements” available to North Carolinians in the Piedmont. We won’t tell you what to do with your loved one's body; that’s your choice. But together we can identify reputable providers who have reasonable prices, whether you want a burial, a cremation, a donation to a medical school, or something else. We can even help you learn how to care for your own loved one’s body at home while taking your time to say that final goodbye. (Yes, it's legal, and it can save you thousands.)
 
We are all about your “needs, preferences, and rights,” because nobody will ever care as much about the funeral consumer as another funeral consumer. We are here for you -- just as we hope you are here for us.
 
Funeral Consumers Alliance focuses primarily on Forsyth and Guilford Counties and to a lesser extent the counties of Alamance, Davie, Davidson, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin. We have reciprocal relationships with FCA affiliates throughout the U.S. We're nonprofit and nonsectarian and welcome funeral consumers without regard to religion, race, age, gender, orientation, ethnicity or income level.

Some chapters of Funeral Consumers Alliance make part of their mission negotiating directly with funeral providers for member discounts or special member rates. We have chosen not to do this at this time. For a discussion of this policy go here.

However, there are some things you can do on your own to provide for an affordable funeral. For ten tips go here.

It is even possible to arrange your own funeral or that of a loved one, to be your own "funeral director". Don't believe it? Go here.
 
Please support us by joining and/or donating today!




CONSUMER INFORMATION

Local price survey
Paths to an affordable funeral
Do Your Own Funeral
Recommended Books
Useful Pamphlets
Interesting DVDs
Local Funeral Directory
Cemetery rights

Home funerals
Organ/Body donation
Cremation




  USEFUL LINKS

Funeral Consumer Alliance
Green Burial Council
Funeral Ethics Organization
Under Taken With Love
Final Passages
Crossings
Federal Trade Commission
NC Cemetery Commission
NC Board of Funeral Service
Some local businesses
Everlife Memorials Info Page



IN THE NEWS



High Point Enterprise

Newsweek

Wall Street Journal



Funeral Consumers Alliance of the Piedmont
P.O. Box 14214
Greensboro, NC 27415-4214
336-643-5947   336-373-0929
fcapiedmont@gmail.com
A 501(c)(3) organization