The DIY Safety Net

Recently, KJ Dell'Antonia took note on the New York Times' Motherlode blog of what seems to be an increasing number of people using crowdfunding sites not to jump-start an innovative business or artistic project but as a do-it-yourself safety net. "Families and parents struggling to get out of a financial hole and hoping to use GoFundMe to help have been all over my social media of late," she wrote. "Are you seeing more of these pleas, too?"