Ivanhoe Fisher, proprietor of Empathy Funeral Home in Portmore, St Catherine, accepts an award for environmental best practices from Sharon Hay-Webster, member of parliament for Central St Catherine. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer

Ivanhoe Fisher, proprietor of Empathy Funeral Home, is still celebrating his organisation's award for environmental best practices from the Portmore Chamber of Commerce and Industries at an awards function held at the Caymanas Golf Club in St Catherine recently.

Fisher, who operates the mortuary, was elated at the recognition.

"I was truly surprised that I won this award because I was up against the Urban Development Corporation. But because I have cleanliness as my policy, I knew I stood a chance of winning this prestigious award."

Inspectors impressed

He added: "The public health inspectors are impressed by my environmental practices. After I bathe the bodies, I use chemicals to treat the wastewater twice, before it runs out into the sewage."

Empathy Funeral Home opened its doors in Portmore four years ago. In 90 days, Fisher was doing 14 funerals per month. The mortuary now conducts more than 10 funerals weekly.

Customer-service philosophy

Fisher said it was Empathy's signature service philosophy which had positioned the funeral home as an important stakeholder in the industry.

"We at Empathy are different from other funeral homes. The others offer their sympathy, while we offer empathy, which is to lend a helping hand to our customers."

"We don't see them as money coming in but as someone in need of affection. We grieve with them," he said.

Fisher was first trained in nursing in the early 1990s at Lynn's University in Florida, USA. He switched professions soon after and in 1994 graduated as a full-fledged mortician.

Empathy Funeral Home currently employs seven permanent workers and up to five part-timers.