Estate Planning & Legacy Giving
Eirene Cremation is an innovative model for funeral planning – allowing people to make arrangements with the support of its funeral directors online or over the phone, 24/7. supplied
Bringing innovation to funeral planning
The value of planning in advance to make your wishes known to your loved ones
Business founder Mallory Greene had a vision for an update to death care and funeral planning. Seeing a funeral industry that hadn’t really changed for decades, she explored ways “to bring it into the 21st century” and to give grieving families a better experience.
“I saw a need for a new approach that makes processes simpler and more affordable for families, while still prioritizing compassion and the human touch to help people navigate one of the most difficult times of their lives,” says Ms. Greene. She realized her vision in 2019 with the launch of Eirene Cremations, Canada’s first and only online cremation services provider.
Ms. Greene brought together two synergistic threads from her background. One of them: her knowledge about the end of life and the importance of compassion when supporting people in decision-making around death.
“My father is a funeral director and my mother, a hospice nurse, so I’ve grown up around the industry,” she says. “Career-wise, I’ve seen the transformative potential of technology as part of the founding team of Canadian fintech company, Wealthsimple. I realized I was in a unique position to bring innovation to funeral planning.”
Eirene chose cremation services only, in recognition of the trends showing that cremation rates in Canada (and North America) continue to steadily increase. In Canada today, close to 75 per cent of people choose cremation.
Unmet needs in traditional models of funeral planning
Ms. Greene and her team assessed the funeral industry to identify the biggest unmet needs and “pain points” for families making decisions for their loved ones who had passed away.
Pricing is a big one, she says. “Not only have funeral costs increased significantly in recent years, but pricing is also confusing and hard to assess. Grieving families are not in a good position to analyze what’s fair and appropriate for all the different options.”
Cremation services through Eirene are on average around half the cost of those provided by brick-and-mortar funeral homes ($2,500, compared to at least $5,000). And pricing is transparent and reliable, she says. “Exactly what you see on our website is what you will pay at the end. There are no hidden fees or surprises, which is so important at such a vulnerable time for people.”
In addition to affordability, Eirene centres compassion and human care at its core, while simplifying interactions with the company. Ms. Greene wanted to offer clients the ease of booking cremation services online – disrupting the traditional requirement to go to a funeral home and speak to staff to firm up plans.
“Technology supports what's happening behind the scenes with our licensed funeral directors and the tools that they use to provide seamless experiences,” Ms. Greene explains. While completing the contract fully online is available, many families choose to do it by phone. “That allows them to get that one-on-one human contact, but from the comfort of their own home. And our funeral directors and other team members trained to support bereaved people hand-deliver cremated remains to families.”
Eirene provides its cremation services in several provinces: Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. The company recently launched its services in Florida and has plans to expand further in Canada and the U.S.
“I’ve seen the difficult situations families find themselves in when their loved ones have not made their wishes known. I believe planning your funeral or memorial should be a part of estate planning in the way that organ-donation decisions and advanced care plans are. When you have those difficult conversations ahead of time, you can go back to living your life knowing that you will ease the emotional burden on your loved ones in the future.” ”
Funeral planning as part of estate planning
Part of Eirene’s mission is to help educate people about planning for cremation and other aspects of how they wish to be memorialized after they pass away. The company offers pre-planning and advanced booking services and often co-ordinates with partners who provide wills and estate plans.
“In our society, people are often reluctant to talk about end of life and death care,” she says. “One of our goals is to inspire people to have those conversations in advance, to record their wishes for their funeral as part of their estate planning,” says Ms. Greene.
“I’ve seen the difficult situations families find themselves in when their loved ones have not made their wishes known. I believe planning your funeral or memorial should be a part of estate planning in the way that organ-donation decisions and advanced care plans are.
“When you have those difficult conversations ahead of time, you can go back to living your life knowing that you will ease the emotional burden on your loved ones in the future.”
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