We were lucky to catch up with Michele Lara recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michele, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

As a child, I would accompany my grandmother to visit bereaved families. She had a lot of knowledge about making funeral arrangements and was a very compassionate woman. We went to countless services and would visit families for weeks after the funeral. As an adult, I planned to start a business to assist grieving families to make funeral arrangements.

But God had another plan. As I was apprenticing for my funeral director’s license in 1996, I witnessed the anguish low-income families experience attempting to piece together funds to bury their loved ones. Many were forced to postpone services because of their inability to pay – some indefinitely. I learned that the period between the death of a loved-one and the date of their funeral was an extremely delicate time, and delays could have a devastating impact on a person’s mental and emotional well-being.

Thus, 3 A Bereavement Foundation (3ABF) was born in 1997, to help low-income grieving families. I believe that 3ABF was a vision given to me from God. Even the name was included in the vision – to Assist, Arrange and Accompany low-income bereaved families through their grief journey (thus, “3A”). 3ABF is an outpouring of God’s Heart, to restore hope, comfort and peace. I was not called to simply create a business. 3ABF, like my grandmother, seeks to assist, advise, and accompany families before, during and after funeral services – to encourage hope and healing for their future. One of 3ABF’s goals is to help bereaved individuals and families thrive and not just survive the death of their loved ones.

Perhaps no subject is avoided more than death. Yet, of the five most stressful life events, the death of a loved one tends to be at the top. I have always had a heart for the bereaved, so I decided to start a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting low-income grieving individuals and families comprehensively address their bereavement needs.

Michele, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

3ABF Programs (including Community and Volunteer Involvement):

•   Bereavement Consultations – Guidance to help low-income bereaved families plan and secure reasonably priced services for their departed loved-ones.
• Financial Assistance – Gap funding, paid directly to service providers, to help defray expenses and avoid delays in end-of-life services.
• Crime Victim Services – Survivors of homicide victims receive assistance filing for compensation, grief counseling, referral services and appeals for denial of benefits.
• Care Team Services – Dedicated volunteers that regularly check in with family members and close companions for up to a year after end-of-life services; providing inspiration and encouragement, and assessing the need for grief counseling, emergency assistance referrals and other human services.
• Community Workshops – Topics include: Demystifying Pre-Need Burial Insurance, Understanding Funeral Rites, Accessing Public Services, Grief Recovery, and Bereavement Planning. This has been suspended during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Since inception 3ABF provides a safety net to bereaved families in need with emotional support and guidance as they move through their grief journey towards healing and wholeness

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

As stated, there are no subjects avoided more than dying, death and bereavement. Yet, of the five most stressful life events, the death of a loved one tends to be at the top. I have always had a heart for the bereaved. But, until my apprenticeship, it was formerly incomprehensible for me to imagine not being able to bury my loved-one. I was oblivious to how many families faced this dilemma, every day. Planning a funeral can be an arduous task and there are so few willing to hold a family’s hand – particularly the hands of low-income families. After the funeral is also hard as the reality of the loss sinks in. I now understand why my grandmother would spend so much time with grieving families. She never got tired of it. She was never paid. It was a labor of her heart – to help restore hope and healing. This is now my calling to assist bereaved families in need. God willing – I joyfully will continue to do for the rest of my life.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I have always had a heart for the bereaved. In my younger years, I wanted to help them, but it was income driven. Only after living long enough to experience my own grief do, I value the healing that comes through mourning and appreciate how unimaginable it would be to not have closure after the death of a loved one. With each new year, I understand that I have more years behind me than ahead of me. So, my God-driven desire is to assist as many low-income bereaved individuals and families as possible, every day.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.3abereavement.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/3abereavement/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3abereavement/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/3abereavement/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/3ABereavement
• Other: 3ABF Email: bereavement3a@aol.com