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I don't have anything in particular to say about Detroit or its problems, but I had thought at one time we thought of cemeteries and funding paupers' funerals as being something municipalities had to provide for. Is the problem here simply that Detroit is so especially broke right now or did they never budget at all to address this?
It seems to me that if people's remains had previously just stayed in at the morgue freezer they'd have a heck of a lot more than the number mentioned in the article. What did they do previously?
And this might sound really icky, but are there laws that would prevent whole human remains from being destroyed in the same incinerators that are used for medical waste? I don't see leaving them in the city morgue freezer as a particularly more dignified solution.
ETA: maybe I should try reading all of the linked article before I post:
"The number of unclaimed corpses at the Wayne County morgue is at a record high, having tripled since 2000. The reason for the pile-up is twofold: One, unemployment in the area is approaching 28%, and many people, like the Vickers, can't afford last rites; two, the county's $21,000 annual budget to bury unclaimed bodies ran out in June. . . .
The state, however, does have some funds available to assist with burial costs. For fiscal year 2009, Michigan allocated $4.9 million for assistance, and of that, approximately $135,500 remains. Those in need of assistance can find grant applications at Michigan Department of Human Services offices, most funeral homes, and at Michigan.gov/dhs.
The Vickers did not know about the funds until CNNMoney notified them. But, fortunately, they were eventually able to scrape together the $695 and will be able to cremate their aunt with help from Social Security, social services and their aunt's church."
It seems to me that what we have here is a bureaucratic failure more than anything else. The state has more than enough money to cremate all 67 if people apply for the aid. (On the other hand if we can conclude they had 20+ bodies in 2000, a 21,000 dollar budget may never have been enough, even when times were relatively good in Detroit.)
This is the kind of article that annoys me because it seems to written with pity as its agenda. Let's write a human interest article that reflects the dire nature of poverty in Detroit, rather than simply do our part to spread the word about state aid available that if properly allocated could diminish or erase the particular problem that we've identified.
Last edited by UGAalum94; 10-06-2009 at 07:10 PM.
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