Bronx families rocked by the loss of a loved one frequently experience secondary devastating impacts: the financial burden of death and the countless, often invisible ways it can ripple through a family’s life long after the funeral is over.
From funeral expenses to lingering medical bills or lost wages after time away from work, death is expensive and unavoidable, and more Bronx families are turning to crowdfunding to make ends meet.
Families especially need support when deaths are sudden like when a family member is the victim of a crime, leaving grieving survivors unprepared emotionally and financially. Jennifer Talbot and her family found themselves going through unimaginable grief on August 23 when her 17-year-old daughter, Anthonaya Campbell was shot in the face while attending a basketball tournament at Haffen Park. Campbell died after spending a week in the ICU at Jacobi Hospital.
Instead of planning a celebration for the PhD Talbot had completed the very same day, she found herself planning a funeral for a daughter she envisioned an entire lifetime with. She told the Bronx Times that she had dreams of seeing her daughter’s graduation, watching her buy her first car and pursue her goal of becoming a speech pathologist. Talbot wanted everything for her daughter, who she called by her nickname, “Ming.”
“You are not expecting to have all of that attached to a dress and a handpicked coffin, especially at the age of 17,” Talbot said.
She told the Bronx Times that in the wake of the tragedy, the family struggled with the financial strain of an unexpected death.
“ The other side of all of this is in the darkest of times where you have to find these funds, these resources,” Talbot said. “Hopefully you do have family, but again, everybody’s practically in the same [financial] condition.”
Community members started a GoFundMe to help financially support the family, raising $2,010 out of a $10,000 goal. The popular crowdfunding site has become a major source of funding for funeral expenses, which in 2023 cost an average of around $6,000 for a service with cremation, up to around $8,000 for a burial, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.
‘We have to look at more options’
In 2024, pages on the crowdfunding site in New York raised nearly $37 million for funerals and memorials and more than $580 million nationally, according to GoFundMe.
In the Bronx, Talbot’s story isn’t unique. The Bronx Times found GoFundMe and other crowdsourcing pages for multiple deaths reported in the news in recent months.
- A GoFundMe for 14-year-old Angel Mendoza who was fatally stabbed at the Williamsbridge Oval in August raised over $3,000
- A GoFundMe for 21-year-old Jontay Davis who was shot and left behind St. Barnabas Hospital has raised over $3,000
- A GoFundMe page for Tamara Rowe who was stabbed to death in July raised over $15,000
- A GoFundMe for baby River Wilson who drowned in her Castle Hill daycare in August raised over $37,000
- A GoFundMe for Detective First Grade Didarul Islam who was killed in the mass shooting in Manhattan in July has raised over $80,000
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson told the Bronx Times that there are a variety of other sources of funding to help families cover expenses after an unexpected death, but that many times families need more support.
“ It begs the question of what more we can do, being that we are seeing so much violence in so many young people and others that are victims of a crime,” Gibson said.
She told the Bronx Times that her office and other service providers in the borough have helped victims’ families apply for funding through various programs like the Office of Victim’s Services compensation fund and the Human Resource Administration’s burial allowance.
But both programs have extensive documentation requirements and financial limitations. The city’s burial allowance is available only to people who meet low-income requirements and offers a maximum of $1,700 towards burial expenses, far short of the more than $6,000 most families are likely to pay for even the most modest services.
While New York State’s Victims’ Services fund offers more comprehensive and substantial financial assistance, its current cap of $6,000 for funeral and burial costs is still insufficient for most families to fully cover their memorial needs and its application process is lengthy and requires that victims exhaust all other possible streams of funding before accessing state funds.
Gibson said that families in the Bronx need more solutions.
“ We have to look at more options to help support families when they lose a child unexpectedly,” Gibson said. “We shouldn’t have to rely on life insurance, on GoFundMe, on the public appeal. There should be a way that government can step in and do more.”
The state said it’s up to the challenge. Bea Hanson, director of the Office of Victims Services told the Bronx Times that in the coming weeks and months, the agency would be rolling out changes to its program to increase support for families and make funding easier to access.
In November, the agency will boost the maximum amount of funding available to cover funeral costs from $6,000 to $12,000— effectively providing no-cost funeral services for most families that qualify to receive the maximum amount of funding. However, funding comes in the form of a reimbursement, rather than an upfront payment, except in cases where applicants qualify to get up to $6,000 in emergency funds on an expedited timeline.
“ It’s such a painful experience for folks, and being able to provide people with funding that doesn’t just do the minimum but really helps to honor their loved one is what we want to do as much as we can,” Hanson said.
The agency will also stop penalizing families whose loved ones died in a homicide where their actions may have played some part in what happened, like in a fight.
“ So we are not getting involved into any sort of placing blame on somebody who’s been killed,” Hansen said.
Then, starting Dec. 31, the Fair Access to Compensation law will go into effect, which removes the requirement for victims to provide a police report to prove that a crime has taken place and allows for alternative forms of evidence and reporting.
“ This law acknowledges that a lot of people don’t feel like law enforcement is a safe place for them to go, and we don’t want that to be a barrier for them to be able to receive compensation,” Hansen said.
But direct funeral costs are just the most obvious financial burden facing Bronx families after a loss. Gibson told the Bronx Times that the work and support doesn’t end after a memorial, even if the media attention does.
“ Many of our partners will step in and help at little or no cost because they know families are struggling,” Gibson said. “In the aftermath of the burial, the families still need help… It’s like a whole other full-time job.”
Talbot told the Bronx Times that her family’s needs go beyond the immediate expenses of Campbell’s memorial. They’ve started counseling, but most are still too grief stricken to return to work.
“ It is extensive, and even when it’s not financial, it’s emotionally taxing and it’s toxic,” Talbot said. “You’re questioning your own life. You’re questioning how do you go on; how do you cope? How do you walk back into a house where I know for the last 16 years this child has been my push to do everything that I needed to.”
Despite her personal need, Talbot is aware that with rising cost of living, everyone’s budgets are stretched thin as it is.
“ I’m not gonna put a price on anybody,” Talbot said. “Whatever they can contribute, I’m always thankful, and always grateful. Of course everybody has their own responsibilities, but whatever can be done— can be done— and the Lord’s blessing unto everybody.”
