Some Pacific Islanders Hit Hardest By COVID-19 Can’t Get Federal Aid For Burials…U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said she is working to extend the help to citizens of nations in compacts with the U.S., some of whom face crippling costs for burials.
Last October, Kalihi resident Steve Palsis buried his wife of 28 years.
She caught COVID-19 in late September, and died within days. The suddenness of her death was compounded by his own sickness and the high cost of her funeral: about $13,000.
A new federal program is aimed at helping people who lost their loved ones to the coronavirus recoup the cost of their burials. But Palsis, who has lived and worked in Hawaii for decades, is not eligible.
