The Plots for Tots Infant Burial Program assists indigent families who cannot afford proper burials for their fetus, infant or toddler. Our team works with families during hospital discharge and provides resources to support proper, dignified burials. As part of this effort, Zaman has 230 burial plots at the Plots for Tots Cemetery, located in Westland, MI., to provide a final resting place for these infants.
Zaman created Plots for Tots in response to the influx of families that sought refuge in Michigan after their countries were torn by war. Refugees frequently arrived having suffered severe trauma, and the effects of warfare began to manifest itself in the health of these women and children. Due to these traumas, women from this community often suffered from miscarriages or from the death of their newborns shortly after birth.
Many of these families were also already facing financial hardships, and with the high costs of burial, the families were unable to afford a proper burial for their child especially one that was in accordance with their religious beliefs and practices. For others, the parents lacked a firm grasp of the English language and could not fill the forms to release the infant remains. Babies were cremated against their family's cultural or spiritual practices. Plots for Tots is Zaman's effort to give a “voice to the voiceless” in the hospital discharge process.
