LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- On a cold and windy Thursday, people gathered around a wooden casket for a memorial service at Meadow View Cemetery to recognize Alfred Gillum, a man they didn't even know.
Meadow View became the final resting place for 73-year-old Gillum, who died in a nursing home.
"The sad fact is that this could be anybody," said Lisa DeJaco Crutcher, CEO of Catholic Charities of Louisville. "There are people who pass away in our community who have become disconnected from family and friends, perhaps because the rest of their family has gone.
"Even when someone passes away, they deserve the dignity of a burial and a service."
So plans are now underway for a new cemetery for people who can't afford a grave or don't have family members.
"It provides dignity to those that may have no one else," Metro Councilwoman Cindy Fowler said. "And it's just wonderful to see young people come out and be a part of this."
Catholic Charities runs the Indigent Burial Program with several partners, including Metro Government and the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. Thursday's ceremony was a chance for the Metro Council to see the cemetery.
On a cold and windy Thursday, people gathered around a wooden casket for a memorial service at Meadow View Cemetery to recognize Alfred Gillum, a man they didn't even know.
"This location where we are today is unfortunately nearly full, and so Metro Council is aware it's necessary for them to find another site for another indigent site here in Jefferson County," DeJaco Crutcher said.
The city of Louisville is looking at 4 acres along St. Anthony Church Road in south Louisville for a new indigent cemetery. A committee approved the proposal on the condition that Metro Parks and Recreation considers its suggestions for trees and fencing.
The project would still need several more approvals from the Planning Commission and Metro Council.
"I would say probably two years before we're ready to go," Fowler said. "I think they'll go ahead and do surveys and preliminary ground work they need to do."
The program started 15 years ago through the coroner's office. And while Gillum's remaining family member couldn't make his ceremony, she told organizers she's happy so many people came to honor him.
"We're proud of this, that it demonstrates our compassion as a community," DeJaco Crutcher said. "And we're able to show this care for people even if they haven't felt that care during their lifetime."
There are still about 100 plots at Meadow View, so organizers estimate it'll still be more than a year before the cemetery will be completely full.
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- Proposal for Louisville indigent cemetery moves forward
- City plans new 38-acre indigent cemetery in southwestern Louisville
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