Press

Simone Gordon
East Orange, NJ

Some eight years ago, Simone, 34, approached nonprofit agencies for help getting diapers and formula for her now 10-year-old son, who has severe autism. She had no success, but then four strangers on Facebook not only bought her diapers but also enabled her to enroll in nursing school by paying her tuition, an act of kindness that made Simone tell the women, "I want to do the same thing for other women that you did for me."

So she started an Instagram account, @TheBlackFairyGodmotherOfficial, with one request for $1,000 in rent money for a single mom at risk of eviction. It worked - and with shout-outs from the likes of famed author Elizabeth Gilbert, her Instagram exploded. During the pandemic, so did the need. In 2020, Simone, her team of volunteers, and her social media followers helped house 121 families and raised nearly $500,000 to care for people about to slip through the cracks - often BIPOC single moms like Simone herself.

Not even a battle with COVID-19 late last year could stop Simone from using her platform to encourage people to donate. She says: "When families send me videos of their children eating dinner, or they go, 'My lights are on, my water is on' - that's what keeps me going.

Follow @TheBlackFairyGodmotherOfficial for ways you can pitch in and help!