Help Sue and Gordon rebuild their Cobargo home

We’re Sue and Gordon and we lost our home and nearly everything else we owned during the Blacksummer Bushfires. We thought then that the worst was over, but our ordeal had only just begun.

We moved into a caravan at Cobargo’s evacuation centre, but as we had home insurance, we thought we were going to be ok. We found Green Magic Homes, a global franchise that builds sustainable, bushfire-hardy homes, so we signed up with the Australian franchise builder.

They promised our home would be built in 3-4 months. Three years and $250,000 later, we’re still living in a temporary one-room demountable.

Green Magic Homes Australia has stuffed us around since September 2020. They’ve done dodgy work with unqualified tradespeople resulting in endless defects. They made it look like things were progressing so we’d keep paying them and we didn’t realised we were being decieved until it was too late.

In June 2022, Green Magic Homes’ Australian licence was cancelled by NSW fair trading and they were shut down. At the time, the news reported on what had happened to us and we hoped this would push Green Magic Homes Global as they had put out a public media statement after our media story had aired, stating that they would step in, into completing the work, but it just led to them stringing us along even further – giving us schedules and endless promises but never coming through.

We’ve tried to be so hopeful but we realise now that their promises were nothing more than a publicity stunt. We have been struggling with one tragedy after another for 3 years and now we’re left with no money and an uninhabitable home. We’ve been pushed to our breaking point and we want this to end.

We’re going to go owner builder and strip back the mess they left us to build the home we were promised. We’ve estimated this will cost around $200,000 and we’re asking our community to help us reach this amount, or part of this amount.

If you can help us at all, it will be so deeply appreciated. And if you can share

this with your family, friends and networks to spread the word that would be incredible too.

All the money raised by this fundraiser will go directly to rebuilding our home. If by some miracle Green Magic Homes Global comes through and pays for the rebuild, all money raised will be donated to other fire affected people in our area.

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer,

Sue and Gordon

At the bottom of the page are some photos of our unfinished house & a photo from the internet of a finished GMH house and what they look like finished.

Read our story in the news:

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Here's what people in our community have said about the situation:

My name is Stephen Nicol I work for Anglicare in the Bushfire Recovery Team as a Rebuild Advisor, supporting people rebuilding after the Black Summer Bushfires.

As a Rebuild Advisor I have been working with Sue Demarco and Gordon Sanger since late May 2022.

Sue and Gordon were the victims of the Black Summer Bushfires, firstly losing their house to the fires and secondly their insurance money to a very shady Builder who promised them an Earth Covered Home, a concept that appealed to both Sue and Gordon and the fact that this form of construction offered a great deal of protection from fire, gave them confidence to go ahead with the build.

On the 19 May 2022 the builder Green Magic Homes Australia Pty Ltd (Glenn Stevenson) had their license cancelled due to fraudulent actions by proprietor Glenn Stevenson, this left Sue and Gordon in a very precarious position, a house half- finished and with insufficient funds to complete the build themselves, due to giving the majority of their insurance payout to the builder.

Since the cancellation of Green Magic Homes Australia Pty Ltd license, Sue and Gordon have been offered help NOT DIRECTLY but through Press releases from Green Magic Homes Global promising to complete their build, this process has proved to be damaging due to time delays, nothing has come from their promises they just keep pushing out dates to start or complete works further into the future, this has been going on for 8 months with not a single task being started.

Sue and Gordon’s mental and physical health have been severely impacted by the behavior of Green Magic Homes and all parties involved with Green Magic Homes.

Sue and Gordon’s decision to launch a Go Fund Me Campaign has not been an easy one but it seems to be only path remaining, I will be supporting them through this journey and strongly encourage others to join the campaign to help build Sue and Gordon’s home.

Stephen Nicol, Anglicare Bushfire Rebuilding Advisor

My name is David Taylor in 2021 & 2022 I have been employed by Eden Community Access Centre as a Rural Support Worker.

My brief, my focus, to support fire effected fire impacted people in the Bega Shire ( South Coast NSW ).

I met Sue DeMarco and Gordon Sanger in early May 2022 and have worked closely with them for the rest of 2022.

Sue and Gordon have had significant and ongoing challenges and stress due to the Green Magic Homes debacle which has dragged on and on with no end in sight or closure in any way.

This unfortunate situation which I have witnessed closely has impacted their lives heavily.

I remain in contact and supportive of Sue and Gordon and know they would welcome any support at all to be able to move forward with their unfinished home and their lives.

David Taylor

Rural Support Worker, Eden Community Access Centre

Ellie and Andrew Newton owner of the Quaama General Store and Post

Office in Quaama NSW

Our small village in Quaama experienced 35% of properties burn to the

ground. The Black Summer Bushfires of 2019/2020 have had and still do

have a huge impact.

We were heavily involved in our community with helping them back to

recovery.

We were personally involved with Sue and Gordon's bushfire struggles and

also then watching the builder that ripped them off taking all of their

insurance money and leaving them homeless.

We have witnessed too much heartache in our community and it would be

fantastic to be able to see another family be able to move into their home.

Please help Sue and Gordon by making a small donation to enable them to

finish building their home.

Regards

Ellie

Daryl Dobson OAM, Community Director, Rotary Club of Pambula

I first met Sue DeMarco & Gordon Sanger in September 2020 when my wife and I were delivering HelloFresh food relief to the fire victims in the Quaama Verona area of our shire over 6 months.

In that time we made many good friends and still keep in contact.

In talking to Gordon we learnt they had lost everything on their property in the Black Summer Bushfire 2020. Gordon was most excited about the eco friendly home they were going to have built by Green Magic Homes. What a debacle this has been with promises after promises of finish dates from Green Magic Homes.

Pambula Rotary with the help of the Church of the Latter Day Saints were able to supply them a 22500 litre water tank as they had lost all water storage capacity.

We often drop in to see them and have seen the stress they are both going through. In Gordon in particular we can see a total change. His once happy demeanour has been replaced by one who is having trouble sleeping and full of stress.

It's a pity we have rogues who promise the world and deliver nothing. They have already lost so much which can never be replaced.

I know any support given to Sue and Gordon would be very gratefully received to help finish their home and return to a normal life.

Daryl Dobson.

Veronica Abbott, Coordinator, Quaama Renewal Projects

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/quaamarenewal

I write to you to express support for Sue De Marco and Gordon Sanger in their efforts to raise funds to build a replacement for their home lost to fire.

Quaama Renewal Projects has been providing relief, advocacy, pathways, activities and

connections for the fire affected communities in and around Quaama Village and across Bega Valley since 5 January 2020. The Badja Forest Rd Countageny Fire destroyed 90 properties in and around Quaama, including Sue and Gordon’s.

Sue and Gordon have both utilised services delivered by Quaama Renewal Projects since the loss of their home and I have gotten to know them well. I am aware of the added trauma and loss that they have now twice experienced, first in losing their home to fire and then the promise of a new home destroyed when they were let down by Green Magic Homes Australia Pty Ltd – who took their rebuild finances and failed to build them anything. Despite Green Magic Home global making later promises to step in and assist, Sue and Gordon remain without a home or the money to construct one.

I support wholeheartedly their efforts to raise funds via whatever means they can so that they can replace the funds stolen from them and finally have a safe, warm and comfortable dwelling.

Yours in community

Veronica Abbott

My name is Todd Denning I’m the owner of Tids Interiors.

My business is Home Renovations.

I met Sue & Gordon just after the ferocious bush fires went through the South Coast.

I have seen first hand the stress & heart ache cause by what followed regarding Green Magic Homes Australia.

They then lost everything again with no remorse shown by the Company.

I continue to give help & support to them both.

It was tragic to go through the South Coast Fires & then to have a builder come & help himself to the funds with nothing in return….

These guys need a break

Help in anyway would be greatly appreciated.

Todd.

Our photos:

An example of a completed Green Magic Home photos sourced from google