I'm Brooke Gladstone, with part four in our series,

Busted, America's poverty myths.

This time, it's the myth that America's social safety net, though imperfect,

still is able to catch people in economic freefall before they slam the pavement.

But there's no way to confront that myth without conveying how that sounds.

So prepare yourself for the narrative equivalent of boom splat.

You may have heard of GoFundMe, the crowdfunding platform where people donate money for projects

or to help others in need, even assuming

that some of these campaigns are scams, the volume of heart-wrenching appeals from families

ravaged by fires, floods, accidents, illness, and death itself is staggering.

A family still in shock and in need of help.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist the family.

Caught in the crossfire, shot in the neck.

Donations have been flooding in to reach their goal of $75,000.

Ashley Webb died from her injuries from a car crash.

Now the family is trying to raise money for her funeral and medical bills by setting up a GoFundMe page.

Some appeals get media or go viral. Most don't.

Jody Spidell's GoFundMe page last year recounted how, after failing to secure public aid,

she and her husband, Randy, both in their mid-40s and ailing,

lived all winter without heat and now lived without water on one meal a day. After no one responded

to their online appeal, they put out their hungry cats, posted signs warning of carbon monoxide,

hauled two charcoal grills into the bedroom,

...