

The words "don't forget me" can be summarized as an emotional plea for anyone who wants to always be remembered in the minds of those they may have shared a connection with. That's the very reason that those hope-filled words became the very name for Simone Goss's foundation.
Don't 4Get Me: The Frances Canty Foundation is a nonprofit that provides aid to teen moms who are homeless or in foster care. It's a befitting name for an organization that seeks to aggressively help young mothers who are often pushed aside and forgotten about in our society. The founder Simone knows from firsthand experience how imperative it is to have an organization targeted to this specific group of girls, as she was once in their shoes.
When she was 15 years old, she and her siblings were removed from their father's home and placed in the foster care system. At the time, she was also pregnant. "It was the most traumatic and scariest point in my life because here I am, I'm 15 and I'm pregnant and I'm separated from my family. I'm worried to death about my siblings and I didn't know where they were and I couldn't get in touch with them. You hear so many horror stories about the foster care system and things that can happen. I couldn't even think straight and I still had to go to school," she recalled.
Simone Goss
However, shortly after giving birth to her son, Simone was placed in a home and things began to turn around. The home was Frances Canty's and she quickly became the positive influence that Simone needed in her life. Frances not only took in Simone and her newborn baby, but she also welcomed her siblings in the home as well and they were back together living under one roof. Her selflessness and affection toward Simone and her family is one of the good, but rare stories you hear about with foster homes and it left a long-lasting impact on Simone's life.
"She just wanted me to be the best that I could be and she pushed me to do that so it was only right that I named my organization after her. She herself was [also] a teen mom so I found out it was a cycle repeating itself. She helped myself and quite a few other teen moms, and now I'm doing the same thing," she shared.
Simone Goss
Today, Simone is 37 years old, and shares three kids and a stepdaughter with her loving and supportive husband who gave her that extra push to start her nonprofit. Because of Frances and her profound influence that ultimately gave her a better life, Simone wanted to do the same for other girls who don't have access to people and resources that can guide them in the right direction. Created in June 2016, Don't 4Get Me: The Frances Canty Foundation gives back to pregnant teens who are homeless or in foster care with programs and events that are designed to help them professionally and emotionally.
These programs include Dress for Success Workshops, GED prep, parenting classes, clothing drives, and this past June they hosted a community baby shower where 12 lucky girls walked away with quality strollers, car seats, and invaluable knowledge from an OB-GYN and a Lactation Specialist. "Being a teen mom and going to the doctor, you face judgment. Sometimes from the doctor themselves, sometimes from the nurses, and sometimes from the other patients. So you're a little funny about asking questions because you're already feeling a little insecure with people looking at you like you don't know what you're doing, so we had an OB-GYN speak to the girls and answer questions that they may not be able to ask their regular OB-GYN," she explained.
As much as she enjoys assisting teen moms, her favorite part of running Don't 4Get Me is the moment when she breaks down the wall that many girls put up when they first walk into the room. She remembered being that girl once and having that same attitude whenever someone would try to talk to her. For her, when the wall finally comes down, she knows that she is that much closer to helping these girls change their lives.
One of Simone's newer projects is working to open up transitional homes for teen moms in all of NYC's boroughs and even out of state so they can have a place to get much needed resources as well as emergency items for themselves and their babies. "There are 750,000 teen pregnancies a year, which is huge and people just kinda write teen moms off. It's kinda like help the baby, but they don't realize that the teen moms are the ones that need help the most because they are the ones raising the future. I want to bring a huge awareness to help prevent it and to help the girls that's in it just so they know that their life isn't over. To say, 'Ok, this happened but we're gonna get through it and you can still do and be who you want to be,'" she stated firmly.
Dont4getMe.org
Check out Simone Goss and her foundation at dont4getme.org and follow them on Twitter and Instagram @dont4getmefcf.
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London Alexaundria is the contributing editor for xoNecole. She is an alum of Clark Atlanta University, where she majored in Mass Media Arts and has worked in journalism for over ten years. You can follow her on Instagram and TikTok @theselfcarewriter
Eva Marcille On Starring In 'Jason’s Lyric Live' & Being An Audacious Black Woman
Eva Marcille has taken her talents to the stage. The model-turned-actress is starring in her first play, Jason’s Lyric Live alongside Allen Payne, K. Michelle, Treach, and others.
The play, produced by Je’Caryous Johnson, is an adaptation of the film, which starred Allen Payne as Jason and Jada Pinkett Smith as Lyric. Allen reprised his role as Jason for the play and Eva plays Lyric.
While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Mother's Day is loading and so is our new series. Meet Michelle Ganey, Laurencia Bright, and Joy Ferrell as they each share their motherhood journey and the ups and downs that come along with it. Whether you're in your motherhood era, wanna be one, or just love yours deeply, The Mother Load series will have you laughing, crying, and calling your mom.
Motherhood is one thing, but Black motherhood is its own unique institution. From fears that only Black mothers can understand to the unspoken language that connects them, our series delve into the vulnerable conversations that are often not highlighted in mainstream media.
Laurencia Bright
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“They are products of their environment, of your parenting, of your personality, things like that. So check yourself,” Laurencia reminds us. Motherhood may come with a whole set of challenges and having to face yourself can be one of them. Laurencia opens up about how motherhood taught her to break generational cycles.
Joy Ferrell
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Joy, like most mothers, put their kids first. However, the mom of two is now learning that it's okay to put herself first. "It's okay to not fill your life up with your kids," she says. "It's okay to still be an individual and to actually actively and aggressively pursue being an individual versus a mom."
Michelle Ganey
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When it comes to Black mama rules, Michelle Ganey reflects on a classic one, "Do not embarrass me in public," she says. "I think one of my hardest struggles with kids is not caring about how they look when they leave the house and it feeling like its a direct reflection on me as a mother."
Watch the full The Mother Load series below:
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