Learning to care for the dead—summer camp opens for children interested in mortuary care
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) -Summer is here and parents have started looking for ways to keep their children busy. Well, two business owners have created a summer program that will not only keep them busy but educate them on death care.
Madeline Lyles & Dana Taylor are the owners of Afterlife Mortuary Services.
“Just to be able to provide that space and to be able to provide that experience for individuals is really rewarding,” said Lyles.
Afterlife is at the corner of Mallory and Lauderdale, they made history by being the first mortuary service established, owned and operated by black women in the city of Memphis. They are making history again by offering a one-of-a-kind summer camp to teach mid-south kids about death care.
“It allows youth and young adults the opportunity to be exposed to different career fields. Not just what we do as funeral directors and embalmers... but other careers like homicide investigators and homicide detectives,” said Taylor.
In an area that lacks so many resources, Lyles said being in the heart of south Memphis allows them to reach youth who may not have these sorts of opportunities readily available.
“A lot of time you hear about children being victims of homicides or they get engaged in the wrong thing so just being able to provide a safe place and a place of education and a place to advance and motivate them amidst of what’s going on around them is very rewarding,” said Lyles.
Students will learn how to and witness the cremation process, embalming of a body, learning the use of the different tools, how to arrange funerals and how to respond to death calls.
“They show us how they do what they do and take us places to further learn what we could do and how to get started,” said camper Lucy Green.
Taylor said this is one way to keep Memphis youth safe and busy this summer.
“Anything that we can do to occupy their time and to engage with them is definitely a step closer to reaching them and saving their life,” said Taylor.
This summer camp started back in 2019.
The camp runs through July 8 through July 19.
They are taking donations of any kind whether it’s snacks for kids during the summer camp or a monetary donation to help campers pay for this one-of-a-kind experience.
Contact them at 901-600-3999 or email at contact@almsofmemphis.org
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