Robert Singer, Frank Evans and Lois Overbey didn’t know each other in life, but they had a few things in common.

They were wards of LifeSpan, and consequently have found a common place to rest in death, and are the first people to be immortalized in a new partnership the agency has begun with Greenwood Cemetery.

But that wouldn’t have happened a year ago.

LifeSpan, a social service agency that provides behavioral and mental health counseling and other community support service, also manages a Guardianship program that brings stability, safety and companionship to hundreds of area residents. LifeSpan’s Guardianship program was the first of its kind in Butler County when it started in 1996, and has since expanded into Warren County.

“Court-appointed guardians can have a dramatic impact on the quality of life of our community’s most vulnerable residents — elderly, mentally ill and developmentally disabled people who have no family member able or willing to look out for them,” said David Mancuso, director of development. “They typically live in nursing homes, group homes and other supported living environments. Many times the guardian may be the only person who visits outside of medical professionals or caregivers.”

The program has around 250 court-appointed wards, and until now, the agency had no means to cover their burial costs or any family to plan or pay for their arrangement.

“Since our employees are their legal guardians, we have to make the final arrangements and also find the funds to have them buried,” Mancuso said.

“It wasn’t handled very well,” said Chief Operating Officer Joyce Kachelriel, “because there weren’t many options. Technically, the guardianship ends at death, and burial places for indigent people has been used up. So the burden often went to the funeral homes, who would keep the remains until they could find a place for them.”

Fortunately, James K. Fitton, a board member of both LifeSpan and Greenwood Cemetery, was able to broker an arrangement between the nonprofit groups for the cemetery to donate space to help LifeSpan to find a final resting place for wards who have passed away.

“This is a huge relief to LifeSpan and our Guardianship program,” Mancuso said.

LifeSpan held its first memorial service Tuesday for three of its wards who passed away recently. Barbara Dafler, pastor at The Park Avenue United Methodist Church, led the service, and LifeSpan employees who worked with the wards said a few words about each.

Their ashes are interred near a stone memorial, which will be engraved with the name and years of birth and death for each individual who is laid to rest in the LifeSpan area.

For more information about the Guardianship program, call 513-868-3210.