GoFundMe pitch for $40,000 sustainable dream home backfires: Kara-Louise Hoppo

Kara Hoppo has launched a GoFundMe to raise $40,000 to buy her ‘dream home’

A single mother of four young children has come under fire online after launching a GoFundMe asking for $40,000 to be gifted to build her self-sustaining dream home.

Kara-Louise Hoppo, co-founder of Free in the NT, which has held protests during the Covid-19 pandemic, shared her fundraiser on the Darwin Buy Swap Sell page, but later removed it after a mixed reception.

‘We’re in a housing bind and I’m saying we’re going to get out of that permanently this year. I found a way, but I can’t do it without help,” Hoppo wrote on his Facebook.

In its GoFundMewhich has raised $3,451 since its launch two days ago, Ms. Hoppo explains that she is ‘seeking donations to help us buy two knockdowns and set up a permanent home on a friend’s block that we’ll either rent cheaply or stay to help out.’

She said the demountable buildings are waterproofed, clad in Colourbond steel and equipped with electrical hookups and a small kitchen and bathroom, having previously been used as a temporary home.

The buildings sell for $20,000 and Ms Hoppo said she wanted to use the rest of the money to buy a third detachable ‘blank canvas’, outfit it, transport it all to the construction site and set it up.

She said the family had to move out of their current home for health and safety reasons, but she desperately wanted to keep her children in the same school after moving frequently, and her friend’s block was nearby.

Ms. Hoppo added that she had not had a regular job because she had to take care of her children, but she was studying a new age healing course and hoped to be able to open a profitable business in the coming months.

In a follow-up post, Ms Hoppo said she has now found a company that builds affordable tiny ‘pop-out’ houses for $33,000 that she is now considering as well.

While many people said Ms Hoppo should “get a job”, a relative defended her saying she is trying to secure permanent dry accommodation for her children.

The GoFundMe was shared by local news outlet The Mango Inquirer and received a number of comments, most of which were unfavorable, labeling the release “totally shameless”.

‘There are people out there who really need and deserve help, they don’t ask for free rides. Help them instead,’ said one person.

The audacity of this! Maybe I should use the same internet to open Seek and get a job like everyone else,” said another.

‘Do you know that you have to report money you receive donated to Centrelink?’ added a third.

A relative of Ms Hoppo defended her saying: “She currently lives in a leaky shed and is trying to find a solution to her current situation of permanent dry accommodation for her children.”

“She has always helped others wherever possible, including organizing and coordinating donations to feed the homeless at Christmas,” the relative added.