Angela Yee to Receive Hall of Fame Award at The Black Fairy Godmother Foundation’s 11th Annual Purple Diamond Awards

Radio host joins Shannon Watts, Vanessa Freeman, and Shanice at the October 24 masquerade gala in Bloomfield, which funds emergency housing for families

BLOOMFIELD, NJ, UNITED STATES, October 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Radio host Angela Yee will receive the Hall of Fame Award at The Black Fairy Godmother Foundation‘s 11th Annual Purple Diamond Awards on Saturday, October 24 at The Brookside Banquets in Bloomfield, New Jersey. The masquerade gala falls during Domestic Violence Awareness Month and raises money to move mothers and children out of violent homes and into apartments of their own.

Yee is a Radio Hall of Fame host and four-time Gracie Award recipient who hosts the nationally syndicated “Way Up With Angela Yee” on iHeartMedia. A Brooklyn native, she began her career in marketing before moving into radio at SiriusXM’s Shade 45, and later co-founded “The Breakfast Club.” She joins a program that includes keynote speaker Shannon Watts, author, activist and founder emerita of Moms Demand Action; host Vanessa Freeman, anchor and reporter at PIX11 News; and a live performance by Grammy-nominated recording artist Shanice.

What the money does

Leaving is the first step, not the last one. What determines whether a woman can stay gone is usually money: a security deposit, a first month’s rent, a bed for a child who does not have one yet.

That is the gap the Foundation fills. It negotiates directly with landlords and realtors, pays the move-in costs a shelter cannot, and then fills the empty apartment through community donations. Simone N. Gordon started the organization in 2017 by answering strangers in her Instagram direct messages. It has since reached more than 225,000 families and raised more than $2 million that went directly to families in crisis, with no salaries taken.

Demand has climbed this fall. In a single recent weekend the Foundation fielded a surge of food insecurity requests and calls from women living in their cars, and provided food assistance to 14 families across the country. Those calls are not only coming from low income households. Working families are calling too.

“People see the word gala and they think party. We are celebrating, and we are also paying security deposits for women who called us this week from a car with their children in the back seat. Every seat in that room is a family we can move,” said Simone N. Gordon, Founder and Executive Director of The Black Fairy Godmother Foundation.

This year’s honorees

Sonja Price Herbert, founder of Black Girl Pilates, President’s Circle of Honor Award
Leslie K. Brown, executive director of Partners for Women and Justice, Visionary Diamond Award
Dupré “DoItAll” Kelly, Newark West Ward Councilman, founding member of Lords of the Underground and founder of 211 Community Impact, Guiding Diamond Award
Lucy Del Gaudio, U.S. Army veteran and the first Women Veterans Coordinator for the New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs, Beacon Award
Craig Mainor, executive director of United Community Corporation, Diamond of Community Leadership Award
Cathy Loup, Humanitarian and Angel of Service Award. The Foundation will also dedicate its Angel Food Assistance Program in her honor.
Beauty brand Megababe joins this year as a Community Care Partner.

Support for this program was provided in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Tickets

The red carpet opens at 5:30 p.m. and the program runs from 7 p.m. The dress code is black-tie. General admission tickets start at $150. Tables and sponsorships are available at thepurplediamondawards.com.

About The Black Fairy Godmother Foundation

The Black Fairy Godmother Foundation provides rapid, dignity-first support to single mothers, domestic violence survivors and families in crisis. Founded in 2017 and a registered 501(c)(3) since December 2020, the Foundation has reached more than 225,000 families with emergency housing, food assistance, scholarships and direct aid.

Melinda Jackson
Melinda Jackson Public Relations
melinda@melindajacksonpr.com

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