Episode 17: The ABCs of Accessible Travel

Today's guest is Lorraine Woodward, an entrepreneur, business owner, and life-long advocate for people with disabilities. She is the creator of multiple businesses, services, and foundations. An avid traveler, she created an accessible vacation home at Carolina Beach, NC, for her family to enjoy and to serve as a short-term rental home for other travelers in need of an accessible location. She recognized a serious lack of accessible vacation homes, which led to her newest endeavor: Becoming RentABLE. Becoming RentABLE is a platform that lists validated and certified accessible rental properties at vacation destinations and near colleges and universities. Lorraine sits down with us and shares her insights into accessible travel and vacation rentals.

Transcript

Guests:

Lorraine Woodward is an entrepreneur and business owner. Lorraine served on the staff of US Congressman Ed Bethune in Washington DC after college. She has been recognized for her work in marketing/communications for local television, non-profit hospitals, for-profit healthcare systems, and national non-profits. Lorraine is a life-long advocate for people with disabilities and the creator of multiple businesses, services, and foundations. In response to the invisibility of people with disabilities in print materials and on websites, Lorraine founded Realistic Reflections which portrays people with disabilities doing a wide range of everyday activities. The leading international stock photography company, Getty Images, bought the rights to Realistic Reflections photo stock, increasing Getty images by nearly 300 percent. Lorraine created the National Barrier Awareness Foundation. She founded Lorraine’s Canes, providing custom artistic walking canes for children and adults. She designed and manages an accessible vacation rental at Carolina Beach, NC. She created a company that sells custom, fashion wheelchair covers that showcase the user’s personality. Lorraine’s newest endeavor, Becoming AccessABLE, will create accessible rental properties at vacation destinations and near colleges and universities. Lorraine is married with two grown sons and shares every chair and lap in the house with two spoiled Maine Coon cats.

Connect with Lorraine:

Mindy Henderson is the Editor-in-Chief of MDA’s Quest family of content and the host of this podcast. She was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, type 2 when she was 15 months old and has been a life-long partner to MDA. Mindy is also a motivational speaker and a writer, with her first book set to hit bookstores in Summer of 2022.

Connect with Mindy: