FEMA has provided $2 billion for COVID funeral assistance

The big picture: FEMA announced that it would reimburse families of coronavirus victims for funeral costs last year.

• Since then it has provided financial support to more than 300,000 applicants seeking assistance for funeral expenses, per the press release.
• Applicants can qualify for "up to $9,000 for each deceased individual per application, with a maximum of $35,000 for families who may have multiple funeral expenses due to COVID-19," FEMA stated in the press release, adding that the average amount of financial help provided to applicants was $6,500.
• FEMA also noted that it is starting a media campaign to bring more awareness about the funeral assistance program to "underserved communities that have experienced a high COVID-19 death rate but have low registrations for assistance."

What they're saying: The funeral assistance program has provided people with "critical financial relief during a time of such unexpected, unimaginable and wide spread loss,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in the press release.

• “Our new outreach campaign is designed to reach families, especially across underserved communities, where the cost of a funeral can be a financial burden to a loved one," she added.