Navigating the maze of healthcare benefits when you have a disability is always daunting and can often feel overwhelming. If you are a recent immigrant, these challenges can seem like they’ve been multiplied by double digits since you’re also dealing with all the bureaucracy involved with immigration.

Because so many people experience these challenges, Agnes Cole co-founded the organization, Disability Motivational Network (DMN) with her husband, Prince Cole.

“Living in both countries, a developed country and undeveloped country… it seemed like two different worlds. What we try to do is make those worlds make sense to people, which is a problem I had at first when I was going to school here,” Agnes Cole said.

Agnes Cole moved from Liberia to Minnesota in 2015, went back to school, and earned a Master of Arts degree in Human Services and Health Administration from Saint Mary’s University Minnesota.

Yet, despite her advanced academic background, she faced staggering systemic hurdles when looking for healthcare and a job. “It was really really challenging for me you know just navigating the whole system,” Agnes said. “So I didn’t know who to talk to and just felt lost.”

Learning to access standard accessibility accommodations was a frustratingly slow process. “It took years before I got to know about Metro Mobility,” she recalled. “And there was no one there to help explain what my options were for health coverage.”

Determined to ensure other disabled immigrants would not have to struggle in isolation like she did, Agnes and her husband, Prince Cole—who immigrated to Minnesota in 2003—officially launched DMN in 2016 to serve as a peer-led navigation hub.

A lifeline in the Twin Cities

In the Twin Cities, DMN operates as a critical community connector designed to pull isolated individuals out of the shadows. Meeting monthly at area spaces, including the Fridley and Brooklyn Center libraries, the network hosts support groups that directly address the gaps in the traditional social services system.

“The support group gives people the bright idea of how to advocate for themselves. This is especially helpful for people who are struggling with their caseworker or PCAs,” Agnes Cole said.

Many disabled immigrants arrive in Minnesota completely unaware of the programs available to them, sometimes remaining trapped inside their homes for months simply because they do not know how to coordinate accessible transit. DMN steps directly into this gap by teaching members how to communicate effectively with case workers, manage interactions with personal care assistant (PCA) agencies, and advocate for their own specific care requirements. By showing members that they have a fundamental right to mobility and independence, DMN helps open their world.

Creating opportunities across the Atlantic

While DMN works to strengthen the safety net in Minnesota, the organization’s transnational work is fundamentally reshaping infrastructure in Liberia where systemic stigma and a lack of physical accessibility present severe challenges. The network has successfully guided more than 20 young people with disabilities through college education, but they also prioritize localized vocational training for youth and adults with disabilities.

“Some of our students who didn’t go to school at an early age would prefer to do vocational school,” Agnes explained. “We were able to open a vocational sewing school for some individuals who did not go to school and want to just learn how to do something with their hands so that they can provide income for their families.” DMN’s most ambitious international project to date is the recent construction of a massive, fully accessible medical clinic in Monrovia, Liberia. In Liberia, an estimated 99% of medical facilities lack basic ramp access, accessible restrooms, or interpreters for patients with hearing impairments.

“We started building our clinic to provide essential and reproductive health… just basically like primary care for people living with disabilities because most of the hospitals and clinics are not really accessible,” Agnes said. “Some of the hospitals have steps and then for our friends who have speech impairments or are hard of hearing, they don’t have interpreters or translators.”

This systemic lack of inclusion proved fatal for a beloved friend and DMN member named Stephenie. “In that process, we lost a friend who went to deliver a baby and passed away,” Agnes shared. “She went in labor and then, you know they didn’t give her the rightful help… so that inspired us to build this clinic.” Determined to prevent future tragedies, DMN spent the past two years building a state-of-the-art, 35-bedroom brand new clinic. Once open, the clinic will offer comprehensive healthcare tailored to patients with disabilities and serve as an inclusive employer, creating jobs for individuals with disabilities in Liberia.

Standing in solidarity with DMN

Although construction on the Monrovia clinic building is complete, its doors cannot open until vital operational hurdles are cleared. The clinic cannot serve patients without standard clinical inventories and running water. “We cannot open the clinic without running water, so we need running water… and standard medication,” Agnes said. The infrastructure has been funded entirely by grassroots donations, largely driven by the organization’s annual benefit. “Every year we have a fundraiser gala and then the proceeds from there fund materials to complete the clinic,” she says.

Minnesota residents can support the completion of the clinic by attending this year’s Light of Hope Dinner Gala on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at the Church of the Open Door, located at 9060 Zanzibar Lane N, Maple Grove, MN 55311 at 5:30 PM. The evening will feature powerful testimonies of survival and impact, community fellowship, and a presentation by special guest speaker and Goodwill Ambassador, Mamie Free.

Beyond physical supplies, DMN is actively searching for arts volunteers to pick up the mantle of their late friend, Gigi, who was the artistic heartbeat of DMN’s local community programming. “She was the director for the art part… she knew how to bring people together,” Agnes remembers fondly. “She taught people to make everything from jewelry to Christmas ornaments.”

To purchase gala tickets, sign up for the DMN email newsletter, or learn more about volunteering or coordinating a medical equipment donation, community members can visit the Disability Motivational Network official website at www.dmnetwork.org.