GoFundMe Campaign Backfires on Mom Receiving Assistance

[orangeblossom]

I know some people don't like GoFundMe campaigns, but regardless of how you feel about it, this shows how hard it can be to get ahead when you do receive benefits.  Any small amount, even as little as a $0.50/hour raise, can cause you to lose benefits.

Yes, she received a "windfall", but she wants to get off of assistance.  This money will allow her to do this.  I hate bureaucracy sometimes.

www.wcnc.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/12/24/go-fund-me-campaign-backfires-mom-cancer-patient/77869522/

Demicka Gilmour and her daughter sleep together on the floor of their Section 8 apartment. Demicka's 21-year-old disabled son does the same in the room next door.



There are just a few blankets on the floor, but the place is clean and relatively safe.



Demicka isn't complaining.



"I'm glad I'm not in the car freezing," she said.



Until just Tuesday night, the family was homeless and had been for the better part of the past two months. They'd been couch surfing and most recently were sleeping in the basement of a church.



There is hardly anything in the apartment. No furniture. No pictures on the walls. Not even a Christmas tree.



One of the few possessions Demicka keeps close is a photograph of her grandmother.



"She raised me," Demickasaid. "I just remember how strong she was. I never heard her complain about anything."



Demicka leans heavily on that memory. In addition to everything else going on, her 15-year-old daughter, Tavi, has bone cancer. She lost her leg to it a couple of years ago. The sickness forced Demicka to stay home to care for her daughter. She lost her job, then her home and had to turn to the state for food assistance.



"It was scary," she said. "I kept trying to hold on as long as I could."



Out of sheer desperation, Demicka created a Go Fund Me page to get back on her feet.



The community response brought her to tears; 341 people, most of them total strangers, donated more than $15,000.



"I was in shock," Demicka said. "One person asked that anyone who was going to buy him a birthday present that year, donate to us! I was crying."



When Demicka checked her post office box a few weeks later, however, those tears of joy turned to tears of agony.



She had mentioned her good fortune to a government caseworker, who then reported the windfall.



DSHS and Social Security both consider that money income. If she keeps the cash, she'll lose her food benefits from the state and federal medical assistance, which includes Tavi's chemotherapy. That's because the donations would push her well over the income allowance for people receiving government assistance.



"I'm just trying to provide for my daughter," said the normally stoic mother, as she broke down in tears.



Demicka could keep the money, pay for everything out of pocket until it's all gone and then reapply for benefits, but she feels that defeats the purpose of people's generosity.



That nest egg would go a long way toward filling her cupboards, getting her out of state subsidized housing and back into the workforce.



"It just doesn't make sense," she said. "There should be an exception for cases like this."



The same church that took the family in, Riverton Park United Methodist Church, is now taking donations for the family. They need food, clothing and furniture. The church is located at 3118 S. 140th St. in Tukwila. Pastor Jan Bolerjack is overseeing donations. (Contact her at [e-mail] or 206-246-1436). Also, gift cards from specific stores are acceptable under government guidelines.



Along with battling cancer, Demicka worries Tavi is slipping into a deep depression. She's a talented computer artist, but the sparkle is fading from her eyes. She sat next her mom in silence, head down, hair covering her pretty face.



For now, all Demicka can do is hold her daughter's hand, be grateful for every day she has with her and keep looking to her grandmother for guidance.



"She gives me strength" she said. "She tells me everything is going to be okay."

[ijack]

JFC. Could someone take that money on her behalf and pay for housing with it or something like that?

[cookiemdough]

Wtf

[bimbi284]

Ugh. No. This is horrible.

[LoveTrains]

That is so effed up.

[sfy]

This can't be life .

Dec 24, 2015 11:44:13 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

#climatechange

Imma sprinkle this all over now.

I believe you were cordially invited to a corner.

[josieposy]

I don't understand why only $15k would be enough to take her off assistance. Isn't it still well below poverty level?

[NewOrleans]

This is so terribly sad. People do the best they can.

This is the kind of shit that anti-govt types should be up in arms about. But there is welfare involved, so they won't.

[Aquatica]

This is so sad. This woman is trying to better her situation and is getting shat on. Could they put the money in one of her kid's names? There has to be a loophole.

[imojoebunny]

I don't understand why the church or someone cannot hold the money and use it to buy what she needs.

I don't know the legalities of it, but I grew up with a mentally challenged person, who is about my age (40's). Her parents set up something for her that is managed by her sister. She is still allowed state medical and housing, but her sister can use the money to buy her things, like clothes, furniture, and little extras that she cannot afford on the small amount that she gets from the government for her severe disability. I know they have also used it to pay moving cost, when she had to move from one group home to another. It is not a lot of money, a few thousand a year, but it greatly improves her quality of life, and I am sure it would for this woman and child, too, if they could find someone to set it up.

Makes me think everyone should have just sent her cash, and she could have stashed it in a mattress.

[redshoejune]

That really sucks.

[WOT?*]

The money is considered income. The state will calculate and prorate based on how long $15K is "expected" to last for a family of three before they can qualify for assistance again. So it's not just a one month thing. If the benefits are, say, $1K month, that means they don't qualify for assistance for 15 months if she receives the income. They're expected to "manage" the money and budget it out, even if they have to spend the entire amount on bills and furniture and a roof over their head in the first month or two and then the money is gone. At least that's how it worked for us. We were supposed to report even "in kind" donations and assistance, such as someone paying our bills. The loopholes I remember did include someone else paying bills and providing services. I can't remember if it was allowed or just "easier to hide" when someone else paid the electric but it was something a caseworker mentioned to us when we were qualifying years ago.

This is why some people living on the edge do crazy stuff like refuse pay raises or work extra hours, and stand accused of being lazy or "welfare cheats" that won't get off the system. That extra ten cents can cost them hundreds of dollars each month in benefits. Would you work 40 hours per week instead of 25 if that extra 15 hours cost health coverage for you and your family, or subsidized rent so you lost housing but didn't make enough to get unsubsidized housing? It's crazy stupid.

I wonder if/how the church could assist, such as managing the fund in their name and subsidizing the rent and managing the food with "food bank donations" for a time? It's crazy how she would have to think of stuff to fly under the radar just so her daughter could get treatment and chemo until she's "legitimately poor" again.

[onthemove]

I do not understand how this is income vs a gift? This is another way the rich can help their own by gifting money, but the poor can't.

[penguingrrl]

This country is embarrassing. We demand you pull yourself up from the bootstraps but if someone tries to give you bootstraps with which to help yourself we take away your lifeline. I'm so disgusted that this is the reality so many Americans live.

[Deleted]

I'm kind of pissed at the person who reported her. If they had any knowledge of her situation, why not just let her have a small windfall?

[whiskeyandwine]

Dec 24, 2015 13:12:20 GMT -5 josieposy said:

I don't understand why only $15k would be enough to take her off assistance. Isn't it still well below poverty level?

It's not just the $15k, it's that that amount pushes her into the next bracket. So if she had no income, this probably wouldn't be an issue. Since she has some income, however low it may be, this pushes her too high for the assistance she is on.

The system is so fucking broke.

[whiskeyandwine]

Dec 24, 2015 13:39:59 GMT -5 Aquatica said:

This is so sad. This woman is trying to better her situation and is getting shat on. Could they put the money in one of her kid's names? There has to be a loophole.

I read a USA Today article that said her church has accepted the money, so I think that's how they are working around it.

[sugarglider]

Dec 25, 2015 0:26:55 GMT -5 mofongo said:

support.gofundme.com/hc/en-us/articles/204295498-Am-I-responsible-for-taxes-US-Only-

Yeah... I was confused when I read the article because gifts aren't income. But then I couldn't remember if our tax laws start to capture bigger gifts to avoid abuse. And I can't remember how it works when it's a collection of small gifts from lots of people. This is probably a hypo in my tax book.

That's of no comfort to this woman, though. I'm glad she found a work around with her church.

[konapoppy]

I am glad the church appears to be working around it for them, but agree with others that this is a much bigger issue. I have friends who are stuck in this situation, refusing pay raises or luckily having managers who would find ways to help that wasn't reportable. It is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

[Aquatica]

Dec 25, 2015 2:32:49 GMT -5 whiskeyandwine said:

Dec 24, 2015 13:39:59 GMT -5 Aquatica said:

This is so sad. This woman is trying to better her situation and is getting shat on. Could they put the money in one of her kid's names? There has to be a loophole.

I read a USA Today article that said her church has accepted the money, so I think that's how they are working around it.

Thank you for the update! Glad they're working something out!

[miniroller]

So we all agree it's a ridiculously mismanaged system; a major overhaul is needed. Is this just not a government priority? Can I do anything besides writing to my congressmen, which historically, will change nada

Certainly I'm evaluating our donation funds for next year's budget & reading this story pulls at my financial heartstrings, aka might have to have my H read, too.
But I just wonder how this system will ever get fixed, when it is obviously more than overdue. Articles like this are blatant examples of the bootstraps mentality backfiring, but I'm afraid very few, if anyone, holding that judgmental mindset would ever read this article, never mind imagine him/herself in this detrimental situation. Because they don't understand the privileged shelf on which they've always sat. Ugh. I know I'm just basically repeating myself; can you tell with whom I've been hanging out? MRRT Christmas privileged A-hole WASP-y IL's!!!

[kme]

There will always be some monetary cut of for benefits. Money is never counted as a gift. Transferring it as a trust or to another place seems like fraud.

The "goal" of public assistance is to get you off it- not to supplement you indefinitely. I understand how it looks frustrating but if the 15k will allow her to get out of public assistance and a job (which is what she wants) then why is she upset over losing benefits then? She has a major leg up than anyone else receiving assistance.

I also think some of the article is written for an emotional effect. The article also says she needs to stay home to take care of her daughter. So I don't think she would get a job. Which is totally understandable, but don't add things for an effect.

[orangeblossom]

kme No one is saying public assistance should be used indefinitely. The problem with this situation and others like her, when the increase can be as little as $0.50/hour, can cause you to loose your benefits before you've had a chance to get on your feet.

People a fiallyddcline raises and better paying jobs, because it would affect their benefits. When you do the math, after taxes a small raise may not add much to the pot, and one would ASSume that many people who receive benefits are on the red.

Also, once this money is gone, she'd have to reapply for benefits, and who knows how long that would take.

So yes, there may be an exaggerated emotional angle to this story, there are very real issues with expecting someone who receives assistance, to immediately be able to get on their feet with an increase in pay, no matter how modest.

We wouldn't expect the same of someone who doesn't receive assistance, because it's not really realistic.

[lexxasaurus]

Unfortunately any money goven to you is considered income by these programs. Your dad pays your rent? "Gift income". You receive a medical/car insurance check? Income (for that month), though food assistance doesn't care about resources like Medicare Savings and cash assistance programs do, so you may be eligible shortly after - and not when you're down to zero. It's such a frustrating system, and I've had a hard time this month, seeing the desperation with the holidays. :/
I'm glad they have at least figured out an option to get them by.