Overview
Welcome to your Front Porch! After the death of loved ones, survivors sometimes find themselves feeling less secure in their own homes. News of a death will likely bring many to your front door, including neighbors bringing much-appreciated meals and friends and family members offering their comfort. But, visitors also may include members of the media or businesses offering services to “help” you. You will need to make decisions about who you allow into your home and into your life and those decisions can be challenging. Your Front Porch is a place to consider how best to make those decisions. Here you will find resources about dealing with strangers and solicitors, determining the honesty of businesses, and dealing with the media.
In your Front Porch, you can listen to stories of other survivors who have successfully faced these same challenges. Here, you can also think about how you want to deal with these kinds of challenges by keeping notes in your Self-Care Journey.
Resources
The Better Business Bureau search engine helps you check out and find reliable businesses that can help you identify reputable businesses and those that have histories of problems with customers.
This website provides a step-by-step process of what to do when a stranger or solicitor knocks on your front door. This resource is provided by the City of Santa Clara, CA.
Need to know how to deal with solicitors at your front door? This website offers information about what to do when solicitors knock on your front door and tips for how to ignore or interact with them. This resource is provided by the Howard County, MD, Office of Consumer Protection.
We are all at risk for fraud and it’s important to know how to identify fraud and deal with robocalls. This web page offers several links with information on how to deal with and report frauds, scams, and robocalls. This resource is provided by the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
This web page provides several resources on preventing and handling fraud, scams, and identity theft. The web page addresses several different types of fraud as well as definitions for key words. This resource is provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Dealing with the media can be challenging. This web page provides a list of tips for preparing for and participating in situations when you choose to talk to the media/reporters. Remember, engaging the media is always your choice. This resource is provided by Harvard University’s Innovation Labs.
