Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services (CFCS), a full-service provider of end-of-life care for the Catholic community in the Diocese of Sacramento, broke ground recently on a new funeral center at Calvary Cemetery, located at 7101 Verner Ave. in Citrus Heights. Bishop Jaime Soto blessed the site.
Jerry Del Core, CEO of CFCS, said the center will be similar to St. Mary Funeral Center in south Sacramento. It will allow further growth of CFCS’s ministry and better serve the Catholic and Christian communities throughout the area. The new state-of-the-art facility will be more than 21,000 square feet and bring new jobs. It is expected to double the number of families CFCS serves within the first year of opening. Del Core said he expects his services’ demand will likely lead to a need to double staff as well.
“It won’t look like the traditional funeral home,” Del Core said. “It’s light, it’s bright, it’s welcoming to family and friends.”
The $10 million project is being built by Jackson Construction. Plans for the new funeral center go back more than a decade, and preparations for construction began two years ago, Del Core said.
“I would describe the need as high, but not because of COVID-19,” he said. “This is part of a larger plan to serve the Catholic and the entire Christian community.”
COVID-19 has impacted significantly the death care industry. Funeral homes and other death care industry businesses have had profound changes occur amid the pandemic, from adjusting the volume that they can handle to implementing precautions for families, friends, guests and staff that remain in place today.
The growth of the industry can be attributed to the rising numbers of deaths worldwide. In addition, the introduction of a wide range of services such as arranging ceremonies, prayers, and burial or cremation facilities, providing counseling to people, and post-funeral services are growth contributors.
“We’re doing things that we would have never done previously,” Del Core said. For example, families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19 can now get help with funeral expenses from the Federal Emergency Management Agency with assistance from CFCS. While FEMA has aided families with disaster-related burial costs in the past, the COVID-19 effort is the largest of its type.
At Calvary now, Del Core said, vigils are typically in the cemetery’s mausoleum, where events such as a post-funeral reception don’t fit. The funeral center will offer spaces and services for not only that but every other step between a person’s death and their final formal remembrance. That includes preparation for both burials and cremations.
“When someone passes, part of our advantage is having everything at one location,” he said. “That tends to make it easier for a family.”
For more information, visit www.cfcssacramento.org or call (916) 733-0252.
In photo above, Bishop Jaime Soto and priests of the diocese break ground for the new funeral center at Calvary Cemetery in Citrus Heights.