Birmingham-area residents Lane and Kathryn Hagan know firsthand how expensive raising a child with special needs can be. At just 12 days old, while in the NICU, their daughter Libby was mistakenly given an overdose of insulin, causing a catastrophic brain injury that left her with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and other health issues. 

The Hagans know that wheelchairs, adaptive equipment, and therapies can cost families thousands of dollars and are not always fully covered by insurance.  

That’s why in 2020, the Hagans launched Libby’s Friends, a nonprofit organization that offers financial assistance to Alabamians of all ages with disabilities. And Lane Hagan wanted to offer help that would impact everyone who works to empower people with disabilities to live full lives. 

“Therapists, teachers, doctors, nurses, lawyers — they all invested in Libby and her success, making sure that she could do the most that she was capable of,” Hagan said. “So, I thought, how can we design something that can help everyone, not just the children, but it can help the therapist, it can help the teachers, it can help the doctors and nurses.” 

By helping children get the equipment and care they need, Libby’s Friends — which was honored at the 2025 National Philanthropy Day with the AFP Alabama Chapter IDEA Award — is doing exactly that. 

Since 2020, Libby’s Friends has given out nearly 1,600 grants to Alabamians with disabilities. These grants are made possible by fundraisers and private and corporate donations. 

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham awarded Libby’s Friends an $8,000 grant in 2025. The organization received an additional $845.50 from the Community Foundation’sStaff Giving Together fund, which allows staff to collectively allocate available funds as additional support over and above grant funding already awarded.

A Voice for the Voiceless 

Libby’s Friends will use funds from the Community Foundation to provide families with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices that enable children to express themselves, connect with peers, and engage in daily interactions. 

“The communication devices are incredible,” Hagan said. “They give children who are nonverbal or are minimally verbal an opportunity to have that voice that they may not have on their own. It is something that really impacted me because I was told that Libby would never communicate. So, when this [device] was first brought up to us, it was a gamechanger. To be able to hear her tell jokes and to give compliments and to tell Kat and me that she loved us, and to tell her siblings that she loved them, that is invaluable.” 

Lane shared that the families of disabled children often feel alone. 

 “So often families raising individuals with disabilities just feel secluded,” he said. “There’s not a ton of resources; there’s not a ton of understanding.” 

But he wishes more people understood that people with disabilities should not be avoided or ignored. 

“There’s so much joy, and there’s so much love that those children can exude, and that they can show you, if you just give them an opportunity,” he said. 

Funds from the Community Foundation will help Libby’s Friends to award seven to 10 additional grants, specifically for AAC software and devices. 

“That’s seven to 10 more devices that we’re putting in the hands of kids, and then they get to use those not just to communicate, but to create relationships at home, in the community, and at school,” Hagan said. “We are very appreciative of the Community Foundation. Every little bit adds up. Whether it’s $5 or $8,850 — it all comes together to make a difference.” 

Learn more about Libby’s Friends at libbysfriends.org.