Our Mission

Reflection Park is dedicated to restoring our relationship with the natural cycle of life, death, and renewal so that we may live more conscious and purposeful lives.

Our mission is fulfilled through these three principles:

  • Harmony

    We believe that the natural eco-cycle is the most responsible and sustainable way to care for the deceased. Our natural burial practices will allow a loved one’s body to return to the earth with dignity, simplicity, and beauty.

  • Equity

    We believe that death unites us in our humanity and that everyone has the right to a dignified and affordable burial. Reflection Park is open to individuals and families from all faiths and backgrounds.

  • Care

    We believe that tending to the deceased is a duty that honors the body’s role as a sacred vessel. Our primary aim is to offer this care as a service for grieving families in order to lessen their burden and affirm the life of the departed.

Harmony

In life, we contribute to the earth through our deeds, words, and relationships. In death, we continue to give to the earth by fueling new life. In offering natural burial, we honor this age-old cycle of life, death, and renewal.

Harmony extends to the living as well.  We envision a park-like feel with trees, shrubbery, and other natural vegetation throughout all burial areas. Reflection Park also has a nearly 15-acre forest conservation area of untouched woodlands through which a natural surface walking trails run.

These trails are thoughtfully integrated into the landscape to minimize human impact, ensuring that the Park remains a haven for wildlife and plant species. Through these features, we hope that families and visitors will find opportunities to reflect on the beauty, bounty, and healing potential of the natural world.

Equity

Reflection Park envisions a place where anyone, no matter their means, can receive a dignified natural burial. We intend to achieve this vision through:

  • Operating as a non-profit organization, which means all revenue goes towards our operational and development costs and allows us to focus on mission-driven goals rather than financial gain.

  • Maintaining a burial assistance fund, supported through tax-deductible charitable donations.

  • Reducing costs by what we use; e.g., low-maintenance electric equipment, volunteer engagement.

  • Reducing costs by what we leave out; e.g., vaults and concrete grave liners.

Care

We recognize that those who choose burial at Reflection Park are entrusting us with respectful care of bodies that served as a sacred vessel throughout their entire life. Our ethos is to treat everyone, alive and deceased, with the care we would want for ourselves. This includes:

  • Regarding the families we serve as our community, not customers

  • Simplifying our fee structure to maintain transparency and minimize stress

  • Allowing families the option to pre-purchase all-inclusive burial packages to remove the burden of additional arrangements or fees at the time of death

  • Respecting as much as possible family choices for funeral arrangements and traditions to the extent they are feasible and safe

  • Encouraging families to participate as much as they would like in the burial process, including filling the grave by hand if they choose to do so

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

—Mary Oliver, The Summer Day