Loss is very hard. But we’re dedicated to making it a bit less hard, for everyone, every day.
Starting now.
Grief is made harder by the logistics that come with it – and vice versa.
After a loved one passes away, the family can face a mountain of paperwork, bureaucracy, and endless tedious practicalities. Suddenly having to make important decisions about an area in which they are uninformed and inexperienced, and often while they are overwhelmed with grief, they may incur unnecessary expenses, as well as unnecessary uncertainty, unnecessary pain, unnecessary conflict, unnecessary prolongation.
In the US, these logistics can span hundreds of hours over the course of several months. They put additional strain on grieving families, who are left confused about where to start, often while they are still standing in the hospital, morgue, or funeral home.
They may be unsure how to plan a fitting funeral, locate and handle important documents, close a plethora of accounts, clean out and decide whether to sell the house, and so many other confounding tasks. It’s practically alienating for families to have to do all this right after a painful loss. However, some decisions can’t wait; they’re challenging but necessary. Family conversations become fraught and tedious, instead of soothing and cathartic.
We believe that loss should be less of a burden for every family.
That’s why we built Empathy. We gathered together all of the knowledge and expertise required to deal with an estate, a funeral, a will – all the practicalities. And then we designed a product that optimizes peace of mind, empowering bereaved families while decreasing their stress and uncertainty. Inspired by our understanding of what those who have lost someone really need – distilled over the course of hundreds of hours speaking to people who had suffered through the process – we committed to creating a holistic solution, one that accounts for how messy loss (and life) really is.
Our product is designed to help give families what they need in the moment, at their own pace and geared to their specific situation, whether that is step-by-step instructions for planning a funeral, in-depth knowledge about estate law, an audio episode giving them comfort and guidance as they manage their grief, or someone to talk to for individual support, advice, and answers to questions.
It is all part of our mission to ease families’ burden in the days, weeks, and months after a loss, so that they can pay attention to what matters most – being there for each other, and remembering the person they love.
Today we launch our app, starting our journey as the first families receive support through its personalized navigation, tech-enabled tools, and human support.
There are so many more things to help with, so many more processes to simplify, clarify and automate, so many specific cases to adapt to, so many grieving families to listen to, support and learn from. We are humbled and motivated to move forward, helping one family at a time, and developing our product so it’s better suited to help more families in even more ways.