Final Arrangements

2016

The Manitoba Home Builders' Association is celebrating 75 years.

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10 ❖ JUNE 2016 A R R A N G E M E N T S By Jim Timlick for the Free Press D ealing with the loss of a loved one can be a difficult and emotionally tumultuous experience. Michael Gibbens, general manager for Dignity Memorial in Winnipeg, says that's something he and every one of the funeral, cremation and cemetery service provider's staff bear in mind when assisting client families. "That's what we as funeral providers do, take a load off a person's mind and provide some peace of mind. We'll look after all the little details so you as a grieving family can actually deal with what you have to which is the grief," Gibbens says. Gibbens says one of the advantages that Dignity Memorial is able to provide to those client families is strength in numbers. As part of the Service Corporation International (SCI) group of companies, it is part of a network of more than 2,500 funeral homes and 300 cemeteries located throughout North America. Because it's part of the SCI network, Dignity Memorial has access to a far superior supply of information and resources than many smaller service providers, Gibbens says. "As a company, we can provide so many other resources to the family to make that experience a little bit easier for them," he says. "That's a huge benefit for us. If we don't have the answer here locally I can make phone calls to all over our network within Canada and even our head office in Houston and the resources that are available to me to be able to get back to clients with answers is vastly superior." One of those resources is a 24-hour compassion helpline available to family and friends who have been served by Dignity Memorial. The helpline is staffed by professional grief counsellors with advanced degrees in grief counselling who work exclusively for Dignity Memorial. The service is available free of charge to family members for up to 13 months following a funeral and to anyone else who attends a service at a Dignity Memorial location for up to three months. "They can just talk to somebody and be helped through what they're going through," Gibbens says. Another increasingly popular offering from Dignity Memorial is its national transferability service. As part of the service, anyone who pre-arranges funeral services through Dignity Memorial can transfer that service to any of the company's other North American locations at no additional charge should they move more than 160 kilometres from where the original arrangements were made. That means a pre-arranged service that was paid for in Winnipeg will end up costing the exact same amount in Toronto or Vancouver. "If you pre-arrange with us and bought the funeral for $5,000 our company will honour that $5,000 funeral in British Columbia even though that would have cost you $7,500 [in B.C.] if you had just walked in and bought the service that day," Gibbens says, adding it's a valuable service at a time when more and more Canadians are relocating because of their career or choosing to live elsewhere when they retire. In addition, Dignity Memorial offers bereavement travel services to assist people travelling to attend the funeral services of a loved one in another city. As part of a partnership with Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a team of travel specialists will seek out the best available airfares, hotel accommodations and car rentals for family and friends anywhere in Canada, the U.S. or number of international destinations on a moment's notice. Gibbens says another important part of what he refers to as the "Dignity Difference" is the company's commitment to client families after a funeral service concludes. As part of that commitment, a family service counsellor will visit family members to assist them with the initial stage of estate settlement and help them get their loved one's affairs in order. "When you are dealing with something that you have very little knowledge of or experience in it can be a very scary and daunting task. We feel it's important to go out and be there to answer a lot of their questions and give them some resources and point them in certain directions," Gibbens says, adding the service is meant to complement rather than replace the services offered by specialists such as lawyers and investment advisors. As part of its commitment to helping families before, during and after the service, Gibbens says Dignity Memorial offers a 100 per cent service guarantee. That means families don't have to pay a cent if they are not completely satisfied with the service they received. "If you're not 100 per cent satisfied with us and we can't find a resolution then you don't have to pay for that service. We want you to be satisfied when you leave here." ❖ Michael Gibbens of Dignity Memorial says the service provider's first priority is providing some peace of mind to grieving families. PROVIDING PEACE OF MIND Dignity Memorial helps make it easier for families to grieve

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