As a funeral director at Ingold Funeral and Cremation in Fontana, California, Jessica Rodriguez helps families say goodbye to their loved ones. “We serve predominantly Latino families, most of them second- and third-generation” residents, said Rodriguez. “We do have quite a few that are first-generation, that don’t speak any English.”
Most are unaware of a federal program that offers up to $9,000, she said. And even when they know about the aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the process is daunting and the bureaucracy confusing. The lack of English skills hinders some families of people who died of covid from receiving reimbursement from FEMA for funeral expenses, so her office offers them help in Spanish.
Rodriguez herself is one of the applicants. “My father passed away from covid. That’s why I really wanted to push the program,” she said. “I know firsthand what it’s like to have to come up with that type of money without having planned to do so.”
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