Our Mission & Story
Our mission is to embrace and strengthen families with disabilities by providing connective experiences and educational resources for the primary caregiver, igniting personal growth and systemic change within the community.
Our Name
The name Labeled & Loved was chosen with great care and deep intention. We wanted the word labeled to make people pause because labels have power.
Every day, children with disabilities are labeled by diagnoses, systems, and assumptions. Their parents and caregivers are often labeled too — strong, overwhelmed, difficult, invisible.
But labels don’t tell the whole story.
The world will label. We will love.
We believe love sees the person before the diagnosis, the family before the struggle, and the possibility before the limitation. It is through love that we restore hope, build belonging, and create lasting change for families today and generations to come.
There was a gap in services for special needs families.
Million families living with disabilities in the country
Families served
Different diagnoses served
Studies show parents of children with special needs are 90% more likely to experience anxiety and 95% more likely to experience depression.
Labeled and Loved focuses on emotionally supporting the primary caregiver because when the mom is supported, the whole family thrives.
Our Story
Labeled and Loved began with a small group of women whose lives intersected for one reason: we love someone with a label.
Within our own families, we experienced firsthand the isolation, grief, and overwhelm that can follow a child’s diagnosis. We also discovered something powerful — when caregivers find community and support, everything begins to change. Hope grows. Strength returns. Families are impacted.
In 2018, Julie Hornok and Dr. Regina Crone began bringing one-night community-building events, now known as Moms Mingles, to cities across the country. With Julie’s perspective as a special needs mom and Regina’s perspective as a sibling with special needs, they intentionally created spaces where caregivers could feel seen, understood, and loved.
What began as simple one-night gatherings quickly grew into something much bigger — national retreats, local monthly support groups, and a sisterhood that continues long after an event ends. Moms who once walked through the doors feeling exhausted and alone began leaving with lifelong friendships, renewed hope, and the strength to keep showing up for their families. The impact was undeniable.
As the community grew, so did the mission. Today, Labeled and Loved exists to emotionally support special needs caregivers through connection, encouragement, and community — because when the primary caregiver is supported, the whole family thrives.
Labeled & Loved is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Labeled & Loved’s first 3-day Weekend of Hope retreat for moms of kids with disabilities in 2021 was in San Antonio, Texas