When GoFundMe goes wrong: Woman faced losing state assistance after raising money for daughter with aggressive cancer

Every day, more than 10,000 new campaigns are launched on GoFundMe.com, but for one Washington woman, the almost $16,000 she received in donations through the crowdfunding website left her at risk of losing the funding she uses to feed, shelter and clothe herself and her two children.

Demicka (pronounced Deh-mee-kuh) Gilmore, a soft-spoken data entry specialist who lives in Tukwila, Wash., turned to GoFundMe in December 2015 to raise money for a surprise “sweet 16” birthday party for her daughter, Tavi Gordon. At the time, Gilmore, 41, was homeless and staying in the basement of a local church with her other child, son Demetrius Gilmore, 21, and Tavi.

Gilmore started a campaign on GoFundMe to raise $10,000 for the party and to help cover extra costs for her family’s upcoming Make-a-Wish trip to London. Tavi suffers from osteocarcoma, an aggressive cancer of the bone that has recurred three times for the 16-year-old. But little did Gilmore know when she started the fundraiser that, while donations received through the website are generally considered gifts, for individuals who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI)— a federal program that helps eligible low-income individuals deemed disabled cover costs for basic needs— any amount of money raised through the site is considered a type of resource.

Gilmore’s social security caseworker declined to comment for this article, but Gilmore said she was informed that if she accepted the donations, that money would be interpreted as income— and Gilmore would lose her SSI eligibility, which helped cover all medical costs for Tavi. By then, Gilmore said her monthly SSI income, which included child support from Tavi’s father, was about $814 a month. Gilmore also supports Demetrius, who has an intellectual disability and receives SSI assistance. Demetrius had struggled to find a job due to his disability, Gilmore said.

“To make it clear I was not trying to cheat the system or anything like that … it is not my character even in times of struggle,” Gilmore wrote in an email to FoxNews.com. “All I wanted by setting up the site was to get my kids and I out of homelessness, and not be in struggle mode any longer, while also hoping to put some joy in my daughter’s life— something she hasn’t had in a while.”

While stories abound of comparatively wealthier individuals receiving surprise tax statements for donations obtained through GoFundMe, Gilmore’s dilemma sheds light on how causes that are meant to be altruistic can sometimes backfire on those who are most in need.

After Gilmore was forced to have GoFundMe refund the thousands of dollars to the more than 300 friends and strangers who donated, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based nonprofit began trying to re-raise those funds to give Tavi the birthday party and London trip her mother wants her to have.

Meanwhile, Gilmore and her children have secured section 8 housing, and Tavi’s cancer has become terminal.