Things Are Bad in Los Angeles.

Hello Deathlings, 

Today's video is a video I wish I didn't have to make. As a funeral director, never in my wildest nightmares did I think I'd be making a video like this. 

But here we are. 

I'm operating a funeral home in the midst of a humanitarian disaster. COVID deaths have overwhelmed Los Angeles funeral homes and there is no government help in sight. 

To the people out there who still think COVID is a hoax, there is nothing more real than what my team, myself, and other death care workers are seeing every single day. The bodies don't lie. 

But I know I don't need to belabor the point with you, wonderful deathlings. I know the vast majority of you, if not all of you here, are thoughtful, responsible, informed individuals. This is the part where you ask what you can do:

1. As I said in the video, as much as you want to support me and my team (we do appreciate this impulse!), please don't call or show up at my funeral home. It pulls our attention away from the people who desperately need us right now. 

2. Share this video. Share it with your friends and family, in and out of LA, who still think COVID is a hoax, "the flu", or that it's over. Share it with the leaders in your community. Share it with your representatives. 

3. Contact those representatives, ESPECIALLY if you are in the Los Angeles area. Below are some people you can contact as well as a script to help you communicate your message. 

Hello [NAME OF REPRESENTATIVE, BE SURE TO USE THEIR TITLE], my name is [YOUR FULL NAME]. I'm from [CITY], zip code [ZIP CODE]. I don't need a response. I am reaching out because I am displeased by the lack of government aid for funeral homes, death care workers, and grieving families in Los Angeles during this COVID-19 crisis. I strongly encourage you to push for government assistance for funeral workers as well as support for the families they serve. Thank you for your work.

LOS ANGELES AREA REPRESENTATIVES

Hilda Solis

https://lacounty.gov/government/supervisors/hilda-l-solis/

Janice Hahn

https://lacounty.gov/government/supervisors/janice-hahn/

Holly Mitchell

https://mitchell.lacounty.gov/contact/

Karen Bass

https://bass.house.gov/contact

Jimmy Gomez

https://gomez.house.gov/contact/

Maxine Waters

https://waters.house.gov/contact

Nanette Barragan

https://barragan.house.gov/about/contact/

Linda Sanchez

https://lindasanchez.house.gov/contact

Lucille Roybal-Allard

https://roybal-allard.house.gov/contact/

Nithya Raman

https://www.nithyaforthecity.com/contact

Mark Ridley-Thomas

https://ridley-thomas.lacounty.gov/index.php/contact-us/

Kevin de Leon

https://councildistrict14.com/contact

Mayor Eric Garcetti

https://www.lamayor.org/contact-us-0

And even if you don't live in the Los Angeles area, you can still reach out to your local representatives and law makers. Tell them to push for government support of funeral homes, death care workers, and grieving families. The lack of support and disproportionate impact of COVID on Black, Latino, and other marginalized communities is a nationwide issue. 

Thank you deathlings. Stay safe. Wear a mask. I'm grateful for you. 

Caitlin

*A quick, but important clarification: If you clicked on this post from your email, the subject probably read, "Caitlin Doughty's new patron-only video". This is not a patron-only video; this is a video that was released to the public. When we release patron-only videos we will explicitly state in the video info and in the video post that it is a "Patron Exclusive" video. Patreon recently changed the way Patrons-only video posts (i.e. these nifty messages that are delivered to your inbox) are released via email – automatically adding that "patron-only video" line to the subject, even if that's not the case. But that's not how we (and a lot of other creators) do things. So, sorry for the confusion! I hope this cleared things up! We're working on fixing this with Patreon.