Can GoFundMe be used for moving expenses?

I thought you can ask for money for almost anything you want on gofundme? I’ll be interested to see the answers you get. It’s just a service, like a broker basically, isn’t it? Don’t they take a piece of the donations.

Are you trying to move before the school year starts? How about get a job two days a week? The money adds up fast when you’re used to living on one salary. You will be in more control of it that way.

Is your kid in school?

I am also in Illinois and a friend has a son with horrendous depression and drug problems. The local school district is funding his stay at an out-of-state rehab facility.

I’m not equating drug addiction with gender identity, like both need to be defeated. But I thought maybe the resources available are similar.

As for the GoFundme – an honest appeal for help seems to be within their Terms of Service which weed out illegal activity and harm towards others.

Getting contributions would require a social media campaign reaching lots and lots of peope who care and have money and will contribute.

I set up a gofundme for a friend. She got a thirty day notice out of the blue, and didn’t have enough for deposit, 2nd months rent, and moving expenses. We raised more than enough for her to move.

@JLeslie We are going to do private online school for the first semester of the next school year which will add to our expenses. There are no public online schools for those outside of Chicago in Illinois. Getting a second job will be difficult at the moment because our son can’t be left alone.

@Call_Me_Jay He’ll be in 8th grade this fall. One of the reasons for us moving is the school. It’s awful. The town is very homophobic/transphobic.

Homeschooling sounds smart for now. Maybe work from home? Those type of jobs can be tricky to secure though.

I stayed home by myself for hours at a time at his age. I was already babysitting other kids. In 9th grade I had a job selling jeans at the mall. Or, do you mean he’s too unstable right now? Regardless of his age.

He’s too unstable. :(

You probably thought of this already, but, is there another school in the district he can go to where he can just start fresh?

Or, would you and he consider that he go live with another relative for a while, and go to school there? Until you can get everything together to be able to move? Maybe where they have better psychological services for him.

My sister went to live with my aunt for two years during high school. She was miserable at home. It’s not he same situation, but it has some similarities. It was good and bad that she did it in my opinion. It was better than staying home in that moment. She was really on the brink.

The question in my mind would be does he like the idea. I’m not talking about pushing him to do it in any way, I’m wondering if he would rather try that and still be in school closer to what kids typically are doing at his age, or if he really wants to just stay home. I’m not against homeschooling in any way, it just depends on the kid whether it works well or not. I would have been a terrible student being homeschooled, but that’s just me.

@jonsblond Yes, you can use that service to fund moving expenses, and I hope you will be successful.

@JLeslie This question is about using GoFundMe to garner enough money to take the actions that these loving parents have decided are appropriate. This is not a question for you to tell them how to raise their son. You are giving un-asked-for advice. Stop it.

Good luck, @jonsblond. You can use GoFundme for anything legal as long as you are truthful in how the funds will be used.

@Hawaii_Jake Just giving ideas. Not judging or telling her anything! I’ll stop, because I did veer off topic, but the sensitivity level is ridiculous. I agreed with the OP that homeschooling sounds good, I realized she might be worried about her child’s safety, and that’s who she doesn’t want to leave him alone, and I also know she believes that where some of her relatives live she thinks will be better for her child. The OP is in a very difficult situation, it’s very emotional, as it would be for anyone. I would be beside myself in her situation trying to figure out the options and trying to figure out the best course of action.

I want her child to feel better, to be better, and I’m sure that is desperately what the OP wants most of all. I’m not questioning her parenting. I don’t believe she is harming her child in any way.

It can be used for anything, provided you can convince people to give you money for it.
Some guy made a fortune with his potato salad Kickstarter campaign.

You can use GoFundMe for just about anything, provided it isn’t illegal. (i.e. Need $1,000 to start a meth lab.)

Best of luck to you and your family.

We had a follow up appointment with our family doctor today. We are being referred to a psychiatrist in Iowa City, Iowa. It’s a two hour drive (one way) from our current home. The drive will be worth it because Iowa City medical resources, and this specific specialist are highly recognized in our area. Our son was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism today and needs an ultrasound. We have a lot of traveling needed in our future.

I’m going to go ahead with this idea because of our need for reliable transportation. Should I have a friend or relative start the fund? I only ask because the fundraisers I’ve seen have usually been started by someone other than the person in need.

Thank you for the update.

I do not know the answer to your question. I can say that personally, I don’t care who establishes the funding project. I look at its merits.

That’s great that they found he is hypothyroid. Not great that he suffers from it, but great that they discovered he has it. A symptom of hypothyroid is depression. Once he starts taking medicine he will feel at least a little better. He should start having more energy to do things. More enthusiasm, curiousity, and energy. It really effects you mentally in more ways than a lot of people realize. Not everyone has the same symptoms, but it’s very common for hypothyroid to basically mimic or cause depression. Beware getting the right dose can take a while.

Huh, go figure, I tell everyone feeling depressed or anxious to get their thyroid checked. It is a standard test at most psych facilities do upon admittance, I get slammed on fluther all the time for mentioning thyroid dysfunction, and then when it came to your son @jonsblond, I don’t think I ever mentioned it. Maybe I have, I don’t remember.

Your doctor gets credit, because a lot of doctors never test it.

I don’t think it matters who starts the fund.

From what I’ve heard we are lucky to have a doctor that checks the thyroid. I’ve heard some horror stories about people fighting their doctors to get it tested. It was the first thing my doctor (same doctor) checked when I complained this spring about my chronic fatigue.

I know there are other contributing factors to Ethan’s depression but getting this under control can make a huge difference.

^^Very lucky. Keep us updated.

With the help from one of our fabulous mods I now have the campaign set up. I know we aren’t allowed to promote things here, but I do have the link to the campaign on my profile page if anyone is interested to see the finished product. Thanks for all of the advice and help!