OHIO CEMETERY GRANT PROGRAM FOR 2021 - DEADLINE IS JULY 31 2020

From Ohio's  "REPL" - The Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing - of the Ohio Department of Commerce.:

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"PURPOSE OF GRANT"

"The Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing (REPL) is pleased to announce the availability of grant funding in State Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 for eligible applicants to defray the costs of exceptional cemetery maintenance or training cemetery personnel in the maintenance and operation of cemeteries. The grant cycle is July 01, 2020* to July 31, 2020." 
***(Take Note:)***
"Exceptional maintenance shall be construed broadly to cover non-routine, non-repetitive maintenance. 
Reasonable maintenance, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) section 4767.09, done in the day-to-day operations of a cemetery is not considered exceptional for purposes of awarding grants. The amount of funding available for grant cycle FY 2021 is $80,000."

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"CEMETERY GRANT"

"The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing (REPL) is pleased to announce the availability of the FY 2021 Cemetery Grant for qualifying not-for-profit and local government cemeteries. 

Allowable grant requests include those to defray costs of exceptional cemetery maintenance or training cemetery personnel in the maintenance and operation of cemeteries. 

Eligible applicants shall be cemetery operators properly registered with REPL, be a documented not-for-profit entity under the IRS tax code and be in compliance with any applicable endowment and/or preneed cemetery merchandise and services trust accounts. The REPL Superintendent is accepting only online applications.

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*****Please gather all information prior to application entry. 

Once you start the application, the information entered cannot be saved and if you exit out of the application you will lose all information previously entered. *****

The Cemetery Grant application instructions are being provided as a worksheet guidance document only. 

This will allow you to gather all of the necessary information prior to submitting the grant application online.

The application must be answered completely to be considered for grant funds and submitted no later than July 31, 2020." 

Contact: 

Laura A. Monick at (614) 466-5384" 

or 

CemeteryGrants@com.state.oh.us. 

Website:

https://cemeterygrants.com.ohio.gov/

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Link below to Instructions:

https://www.com.ohio.gov/documents/CemeteryGrantFinalInstructions21.pdf

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Please note that there is an "Apply Now" button on this link.:https://cemeterygrants.com.ohio.gov/

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THE CEMETERY GRANT APPLICATION

Supporting the passage of H.R. 1179 and S.B. 2827 better ensures African-American burial sites are protected and preserved

Providing some historical perspective about what has transpired thus far for passage of laws made at the Federal level - those specific to protecting gravesites and thus preserving the dignity and respect for cemeteries.  

In this case, the focus is for Native American graves.:

On November 16, 1990, the "Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act" was signed into law. 

Excerpt: "The kinds of remains and the artifacts covered by provisions of the statute are: (1) human remains and associated funerary objects; (2) unassociated funerary objects; (3) sacred objects; and (4) objects of cultural patrimony."Human remains" are not defined in the statute, and consequently all kinds of Native American human remains are covered. This means isolated human bones, teeth, or other kinds of bodily remains that may have been disturbed from a burial site are still subject to the provisions of this statute."

From the Ohio Archaeological Counsil:https://www.ohioarchaeology.org/news

  At the Federal Level:

“H.R. 1179/S. 2827, African American Burial Grounds Network Act. In June, the OAC joined 72 other local, state, and national organizations, including six from Ohio, in a letter of support for the bill to the Subcommittee and the House Committee on Natural Resources. Introduced on February 13, 2019, H.R. 1179 has 49 bipartisan cosponsors including Ohio Reps. Balderson (R-Troy), Beatty (D-Columbus), Fudge (D-Cuyahoga and Summit counties), and Turner (R-Dayton). On May 22, 2019, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands held a hearing on the bill. It would create within the National Park Service the African American Burial Grounds Network that would:

• Create a voluntary, nationwide database of historic African American burial grounds, with the consent of the property owner;

• Provide technical assistance to local public, private, state, and local partners to research, survey, identify, record, preserve, evaluate, and interpret these burial grounds;

• Make available grants for local groups to research, survey, identify, record, and aid in the preservation of sites within the Network; and

• Establish educational materials for community members, local groups, and schools about African American burial grounds.

On November 11, 2019, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown introduced companion bill S. 2827 in the U.S. Senate. It was assigned to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. It has six bipartisan cosponsors. The bill has not had a hearing.”

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Ohio State Issues

“Human Burial Places Protection Bill. On January 23, 2020, OAC Government Affairs Committee Chair Al Tonetti, and Amanda Terrell (Director of the State Historic Preservation Office/SHPO), and Todd Kleismit (Director of Community & Government Relations) at the Ohio History Connection (OHC), met with State Representative Gary Scherer (R-Circleville) and Yosef Schiff (Legislative Service Commission [LSC]) to discuss proposed revisions to the draft bill. Revisions were made to address concerns expressed by interested parties at their June 11, 2019 meeting. Rep. Scherer asked LSC to incorporate the revisions and said he would discuss the revised draft with interested parties one-on-one. We are working with the LSC on clarifying a few revisions. The bill was a legislative priority for Statehood Day, see below, even though it is unlikely to be enacted before Rep. Scherer retires at the end of this year. That said, we hope to have a bill introduced this year so that legislators begin to discuss it. We are seeking new sponsors for reintroduction in 2021.”

H.R. (House of Representatives) Bill 1179:

https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr1179/BILLS-116hr1179ih.pdf

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https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1179/all-info

African-American Burial Grounds Network Act

Excerpt:A BILL  -- To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National Park Service the African-American Burial Grounds Network United States of America in Congress assembled,

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the

 ``African-American Burial Grounds Network Act''. Congress finds as follows:

            (1) From 1619 until 1865, millions of African Americans 

        result, slave burial grounds were often confined to remote 

            (2) Slaveholders often controlled where and how the dead 
        were buried, and prohibited burials on valuable land. As a 

        infrequently appear on historical maps. A lack of accurate 

        areas or marginal property.

            (3) Such burial grounds were rarely documented, and they 
        information is typical of African-American cemeteries from 

        bury their dead. Across much of the United States, local laws 

        before the Civil War.

            (4) Following the end of slavery, many African-American 
        families continued to face restrictions on where they could 

        record-keeping that predominantly White burial grounds enjoyed.

        segregated burial sites by race. African-American burial 

        grounds often failed to receive the type of maintenance and 

            (6) There is no official national record or database for 

            (5) Many African-American burial grounds from both before 

        and after the Civil War are in a state of disrepair or 

        inaccessibility due to overgrowth of vegetation, crumbling 

        physical structures, and other challenges.

        African-American burial ground locations, and the location of 

        discovered when construction projects inadvertently disturb 

        many sites is unknown. As a result, the family members and 

        descendants of those interred are unable to visit these sites 

        to honor and remember their ancestors.



Senate Bill 2827

Excerpt:

"Brown and Alexander’s bill has the support of more than 50 organizations around the country, including the Coalition for American Heritage, Union Baptist Cemetery in Cincinnati and Heritage Ohio."



 "Coalition for American Heritage"

"Call to Action: Preserve African American Burial grounds"



"WikiTree - African American Project" 

Happy Father's Day! Remembering my father today in a bit of a different way.

 

Wishing all of the fathers, and those who are role model fathers for others, a wonderfully happy Father's Day 2020! 
This Father's Day is unlike any other, however, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continuing across America, and indeed around the world. 

I do feel confident, though, that our 21st Century resources being utilized by professionals in the fields of science and medicine are the best equipped in history to meet and ultimately conquer the challenges presented by this deadly disease. 

It does help though, to have a supportive and loving father by our side to reassure and guide us through it.  

But, that is not possible for many of us is it, for one reason or another.

For those of us who have lost our father, please know he is only a thought away if we so desire to ponder what he has meant to us.  We have our memories, photographs, artifacts, his life history, and all he shared with us that offer a cradle of comfort whenever we choose to draw nearer to them.  If you have studied your father's life then you know about his occupations, hobbies, his character, insights, education, sports affiliations, accomplishments, and his triumph over tragedies that made him unique and strong.  

So, one way we can honor our father is to share what we know about him and his life.  We can do that in different settings -- privately or publicly. 

One public way to offer honor and respect for a deceased father is to post an online memorial for him.  

I chose to do that on "Find A Grave".  

I created my father's memorial several years ago, but today I decided it was overdue for me to take the next step and sponsor it.  

The cost wasn't much, $5.00, but it enables removal of any pop-up advertisements on his memorial page.  It also permits me to post more photographs than the normal limit of 5.  I felt good about doing that as a small gesture.  It was my small way of conveying my appreciation for his love and concern for me during our time together.  

So, thank you daddy for being a role model for me, for all of your loving support and concern for my welfare, for your grins and hugs, and for teaching me how to properly catch fish and worms!

  

Here is my Find A Grave memorial for my father, Harry Limes.