Accessibility Is Home podcast
Welcome to AI Home podcast, the first exclusive podcast on real estate resources and independent living strategies for the disability community. Why? Because Accessibility Is Home. Brought to you by Angela Fox, blogger, and author of “My blue front door”. Ms. Fox will be interviewing Realtors and home improvement contractors who are both disability friendly and others who may have a lot more to learn. Ms. Fox will also provide takeaways for anyone wanting to be a homeowner with a disability.
Accessibility Is Home podcast
Unlocking Inclusive Travel: Pioneering Accessibility in Vacation Rentals with Lorraine Woodward
Traveling can be challenging if you are disabled because of inaccessible short term rentals. But through the help of disabled homeowners and "Becoming Rentable," that will change! In honor of Accessibility Is Home podcast winning the Sonic Bloom Pioneer Award, to pioneers are interviewed - Angela Fox and Lorraine Woodward. Lorraine Woodward is the visionary behind Becoming Rentable, who's reshaping the travel landscape to accommodate everyone's needs. Our conversation orbits around the often-overlooked necessities that make a world of difference—think driveways you can actually navigate and doorways that welcome any guest, no matter their mobility challenges. This episode unveils the 43 meticulously cataloged features that Lorraine's platform offers, ensuring that every adventure is accessible and every traveler can find their perfect stay.
Shifting away from the travel norms, we confront the stark reality of the limited accessible rental market, especially as the baby boomer generation sails toward retirement. Lorraine and I dissect the hurdles in amassing a more inclusive property inventory and the certification process that not only raises the bar but also raises awareness. We also shed light on the crucial role of insurance and safety in this evolving industry, narrating tales that will move and motivate you. From the heartwarming story of Gideon's family to the potential for Becoming Rentable's expansion, we're showcasing how these rentable spaces are becoming memory makers for families seeking autonomy in their travels.
As we wrap up, I point you towards a beacon of hope and guidance for making properties more welcoming for everyone. At BecomingRentable.com, you'll find a treasure trove of advice on creating a space that speaks the language of accessibility, while my own platform, HorizontalHouses.com, serves up resources for those in the disability community taking the leap into homeownership. We're building a network where shared experiences are the currency that enriches us all, and I invite you to contribute your voice. Get ready to be part of a movement that's not just changing the way we vacation but altering the landscape of home and heart.
A special note from the host, Angela Fox, wanting to thank her listeners for making Accessibility Is Home podcast the first Sonic Bloom Pioneer Award Winner!
For transcript, click here.
Cush Pocket, a proud sponsor, is a disabled owned company that sells wheelchair bags. Get $1 off by using code Angela Fox
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Welcome to AI Home Podcast, the first podcast for real estate resources and independent living strategies for the disability community. Why? Because accessibility is home. Hi, I'm Angela Fox, blogger, author and your host. Now let's begin. Alright, everybody, again, angela Fox. It says it's going to be in his home. He's here at horizontal houses, the company that's sponsoring this podcast. We know that accessibility for home is more than just the bathroom. So look on the cheek there, lally Bryant. But today they have this fabulous guy on from becoming a rentable. Lauren, would you like to say hi and introduce yourself?
Speaker 2:Sure, my name is Lorraine Woodward and I am CEO and founder of Becoming Rentable. Today, I have a lovely orange sweater on with white flowers, I have gray and white hair and I have a pair of red glasses with big brown eyes.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. And for those of you who are watching this podcast by you too, I am a white young woman with a black jacket and I'm wearing my knee-foot pendant that has little weird chestline. It says keep calm. And we are on. And I have brown eyes and, again, I'm not a bull and you can't back which I've discussed it. So, lauren, I know you and I have met together through a mutual organization which is Together International, which is a fabulous entrepreneurship program with disabilities, but you also have a company yourself called Becoming Rentable. What is that?
Speaker 2:Gosh, and how many minutes do we have or hours Becoming Rentable is a listing platform. We're like the Airbnb, vrbo, but all of our properties are identified as accessible. Right now, we have properties that we've validated and reviewed that are accessible for those of us with mobility issues, so our properties are accessible for wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and canes, and it's very exciting that we have just released this week our cognitive focus, and that includes individuals with cognitive conditions like brain injury, intellectual disabilities, autism, anxiety, and so we're looking at expanding the reach in the short-term rental industry to have access for those of us with mobility issues, and we also have access for people with disabilities and our aging.
Speaker 1:That is exciting. It's interesting that you said that you're creating a Airbnb, because I know that the Airbnb is starting to have that for accessibility in short-term rental. Now for Becoming Rentable are these individuals that own the home themselves?
Speaker 2:They're just like what you would see in an Airbnb and VRBO. So when you go to a, you want to go on vacation and you choose not to stay in a hotel and you're looking at saying a property, individuals and property managers will list their properties on a particular website and so people come to us going wait a minute, I have an accessible short-term rental that we would have listed on your platform and what that means is we don't. We're not a booking agency, we just list properties that meet our criteria. For example, if you go to Airbnb, they have 13 filters on their website. A VRBO has two filters. So VRBO has wheelchair accessible and elevator. Where Airbnb, their 13 is wheelchair accessible, front door, entrance accessible, bathroom. Those are very general, prescriptive style filters.
Speaker 2:At Becoming Rentable, we're more descriptive. We have 43 choices because we believe that accessibility is not a one size fits all. What I need in my rental may be different than what you need, so we created a platform where you have 43 choices for anybody with a wheelchair, walker, crutches or canes needs. So for me, I'm going to go on our platform and I'm going to click on hard surface driveway, because me in a wheelchair and grass and gravel and dirt. We don't mix very well. So I need to make sure that I'm on that hard surface concrete paving stones that I'm not going to, my wheels are not going to dig in. And then I need a sidewalk that is accessible, doesn't have weeds over it. It's got about 40 inches of clearing space that I can go to the accessible door. That door might be in the garage, it may be the front door, it may be a side door, but I need it clear with no steps. And then I need to go through the door. So now I'm clicking on 36 inch door.
Speaker 2:I really need to go to the bathroom. So then I want to make sure that bathroom is accessible, and for me it might be accessible to the bathroom that I can use a urinal, or it's accessible that my husband can help me, or a foyer lift. So I need to look at that. And then I'm tired, I want to take a nap. Can the foyer lift fit underneath the bed? So I'm going to look at. I need a bed that has clearance underneath it. And then I just need to. I want to go in the living room and hang out with everybody. So is that available? So those are the types of filters I'm looking for. My boys also have muscular dystrophy, but their needs are different. They need to make sure that there's grab rails in the back of the toilet, grab rails in the shower. So we created filters for 43 choices. You can go online and then the properties that have those same options listed those listings will come up so that you know with confidence that what you're renting will meet your needs.
Speaker 1:Great. How did you come up with the criteria? It was a long process, but I think we will talk about accessibility. There's always that great debate. What do you include when you talk to the most individuals of the community? Do you remember how?
Speaker 2:you got to 43? Holy moly, it's trying to not limit it. We started at 36. We're two and a half years old and now we're at 43, just for mobility. Now we have 24 are cognitive, so we're now at 63. It has been. We added the hard surface driveway because we just didn't think about it.
Speaker 2:Sometimes we assume different things and I think that's the challenge with some booking platforms is that they assume that somebody that's going to go and put their property On their booking platform understands what they've put. And we don't have any assumptions and that's why we evaluate and validate that the properties are what they say they are. So we started off identifying 36 things that we believed as individuals with disabilities, as professionals with disability. We did a survey tool that we sent out to thousands of groups to get responses on what they look for. And then, over the course of the last year that we have, we have the people who said wait a minute, you didn't include this and it's. You're right, we didn't. So we met and we have added more so that we have the total of 43. How long will that last? I don't know. Will there be more, will there be less? Stay tuned.
Speaker 1:My experience of it in what we've done with nationality development and real-toes and other individuals is that they try to have an old disability, like the diagnosis right MS, cp and then it gets a little overwhelming with them and I know that you separated it between the ability and current. Why did you do that?
Speaker 2:And one of the reasons that we did that is what the needs are for people with cognitive disabilities are different than mobility. Now on our website you can identify all 63 that you need. That creates the choice. Now, one of the reasons that we expanded our filter list was because of walkers. Somebody in a walker can get up one step, but for me and my big wheelchair I hear the comment that, lorraine, it's only two inches but my big wheelchair, I throttle it and I can't get up those two inches. But somebody in a manual chair might be able to get up those two inches. Somebody in a walker might be able to get up that whole step or go into that step and shower. And somebody with no physical disabilities may have issues with fragrances. They're allergic to fragrances and that is a filter that we identify.
Speaker 2:With our cognitive filters, particularly those on the autism spectrum, we look at light sensitivity and while my husband doesn't have a cognitive disability, he's the first one to say, on vacation, when there's not a blackout curtain, that is, oh my gosh, it's too bright in here. But it does have an effect on people that do have a cognitive disability as well as it may have an effect on somebody with a mobility disability. So as we move forward with our company, we will be releasing more filters for our vision and our hearing, and then we end up promoting accessibility for our aging, because aging is a great example of how it affects our mobility, our cognitive, our vision and our hearing. The bottom line is it takes so long to create change and understanding. What does it mean to have a mobility disability? I think those words are like garbally good Sometimes. What do you mean? And that's why we say wheelchair walker, crutches and canes oh, I get that. And so it's taken us a while.
Speaker 2:We have a long way to go to educate people, particularly in an industry that doesn't know disability of what these are. Because as we look at building our business, we look at reaching those of us with disabilities, those of us who have friends that we want to travel with, that have disabilities. And then we have the other side, and that's the inventory side, that is, finding properties that have these features that we can identify what they are so people can find them. It is that audience that we have to educate to say what is a zero threshold entry? Holy moly, is that a full of words? And we just have to treat them. That's when you don't go bump to debump through the front door or through a door that it's less than two inches on your threshold to come in and they're going. Oh, that's what that means. Or even saying a hard surface driveway I have that Great. Tell your potential guest that you have that. That makes a difference for a lot of us, and so that is.
Speaker 2:We started out with the visible disabilities. That's commonly what people think of. They think of disability and wheelchair users, and we know that there's more than that. And cognitive people commonly think of autism, but we know there's more than that, and that's another reason that we broke it up. Somebody can go in and identify in both areas of what their needs are, and then we'll continue to add Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:It sure does. It's so dark. There's always all different approaches of how you can go on disability. So you said something about aging and praise. But is that for a more homogeneity perspective? Because, instead of you know, one of the best schools that you are having and I think all of us who are in the advocacy for healthy is having that education? Yes, and a lot of people seem to be more, in my opinion, more comfortable with the concept of aging and praise, kind of wrap that around. Even in my opinion, most of what might be needed is also needed for if the client is disabled. Is that because educational marketability aspect?
Speaker 2:Because these are vacation rentals, these are short-term rentals, a place that you're going to visit for two days, three days a week, maybe even a whole month. That again, to find these properties in a new industry. That again it was easier to identify what the features are and not the disability. We focus on the individual and looking at what your needs are, and so, as we're building this awareness and education, it makes sense to end with looking at our aging. And the other reason, too, is the influx of our seniors that we're going to be seeing over the next six years.
Speaker 2:I'm one of them. I'm a baby boomer and in six years I'm going to be officially actually less than six years I will be of the senior population, which is growing by 31 million Americans. It's huge. We'll have more babies, We'll have more seniors than babies since World War II. And are we ready as a travel industry, as a hospitality industry in short-term rentals, for this influx of people who want to travel, have the money to travel, have been waiting to travel, and so that's one of the reasons we want to get this understanding of what all these features are, so people can then make choices. And then our influx of 31 million of us being of that senior age also impacts the reason that we will be rolling all this up with our seniors in the end of this year.
Speaker 1:And was there any consideration about really speaking those who are senior? I like my son, who's like young 41, perhaps more. All right, yes.
Speaker 2:To travel. That's what you gear up for. Some people look forward to the day that they can travel, and the other thing that we want to share with our industry is we have money that we save, like everybody else, and vacations are an important part of our life. And how do we provide these opportunities for us who may not? A hotel doesn't meet our needs and we have to look outside of that. And right now, in the short-term rental industry there's like on Airbnb, vrbo, bookingcom, vakasa these large booking platforms. They have 1.5 million listings. It's a lot of listings, but only 0.1% are accessible. That's 1,500. Then you start amortizing by 50 states and going wait a minute, that's only a few per state. Not even in my capital city or my favorite vacation place or where my cousin lives that I want to go to a wedding to. That's why there's so much work to be done, so that we can travel and have places that meet our needs.
Speaker 1:And how did you identify? In the house, you know, do you have an editorial component? You have to run. Only 1% of child care in the United States that is accessible, and so that's a serious problem with this image. So how did you all about gain the inventory?
Speaker 2:Well, it's been hard. It's been on podcasts like this. It's telling our story in new mobility. It is teaming up with companies who work in the short-term rental industry. It's working 14 hours a day, seven days a week, to get our story told and, I wish, on our platform we have a little over a thousand accessible properties. I'm proud to say that it's more than Airbnb, it's more than VRBO, but it needs to be 5,000 and 10,000 and 50,000 properties and we're trying to get our story told because people don't know about us. They don't know that this is a resource to go and find an accessible property. Properties who have these features don't know that we are here to promote their rental property. Sometimes I will go on Facebook and I'll look and read stories on the different Facebook groups and then I'll reach out to somebody going oh, you have this property, we'd love to have you on our website, and so it's making those kinds of phone calls as well. We do it very organically, which means it's very natural. We don't go fee for service and hire listings and all of that. We have a group of contractors and a group of volunteers and that's what we do is we get the information out.
Speaker 2:Our whole team of 17 were all people with disabilities or a family member has a disability. Disability is a big part of who we are, in our life and we're very passionate For me. I feel really fortunate that I found my purpose. This is not my first job. I owned a communications firm for almost 30 years. I worked in DC for my congressman, I worked in a hospital, I've worked in different environments and now I'm bringing all that professional knowledge to starting this company, and our goal is broad we want to change the short-term rental industry to be more accessible for all of us.
Speaker 1:Well, I was really excited to see about it Because, while accessibility is home and about disability and homeownership, you know all what you're doing is coming out like a spiral. Individuals who have accessible houses on the platform are also disabled, and so, for the benefit and lobby of AIMP is that home owner can actually make money off of their homes, and I am a big component of our own child Disability, like other minorities are going to be. It's about the generational wealth. But my question to you is when it comes to your service, you said that you don't do not look at it. Is there a key that you charge people to advertise like a client?
Speaker 2:So we are. One of our revenue streams is, through our certification program, to be on our map. We have to certify you. We know that is one of the largest challenges in this industry where people identify that they are accessible. Then you get there. It's a 28 inch door. You can't get into the bathroom. There are five steps, all of these things.
Speaker 2:So what we want to do is we want that potential traveler to have a positive experience. And how do we do that? And that is by making sure that they say they have a hard surface driveway. We ask for that photograph, similar to what the other booking platforms do. So we go through and we evaluate everything that they have said. Then we also look for other things. Did you know you have an accessible microwave and somebody may go, but what do you mean? It's just on the counter. That's accessible for us in wheelchairs, people of short stature, people who use walkers that need that, can't reach up high. So that is considered an accessible component, which is really important, and so that is a fee of $200. So, to be listed on our site for a 12 month period, it is a fee of $200.
Speaker 2:But we have on our site we have 111 booking platforms. So, instead of going all right, I'm going to take a vacation in North Carolina and I want to go to Wrightsville Beach, let me see what this platform has. I don't see anything there. So now I'm going to go to this platform. Don't see anything there. And then you start going to all these platforms becoming rentable. You don't have to. We are right here. We have those successful properties from Airbnb, vrbo, bookingcom, vakasa, natural Retreats 111 of them are on our platform, so we're trying to build that one stop shop that you can just go to. All we specialize in is accessible short term rentals, and here's our list.
Speaker 1:As a consumer. You find something, you go and click all your filters and everything If that information can avail to contact the property, or you reject it to Airbnb.
Speaker 2:So you'll you go online and 15 properties that meet your needs and you click on that property. There's a link, a URL, and it takes you straight to where that property is listed and then you can go and go. I want to stay on these days to these days. You can ask your questions to the property owner or manager. It takes you directly to that property on that site.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're not going to another website.
Speaker 2:No, you go straight to the property.
Speaker 1:Okay, oh, throw on the service and process If you want to.
Speaker 2:Right now, within a week, you contact us, you do what we call the onboarding, which is what is your name, what is your contact information, what are the filters that you have. Then you put your photographs in and then our team. Then we'll then go to the next one that we have to certify and we look at all of the things that we they have identified, make sure we see oh, that's a 36 inch door, that's a 32 inch door, that's a 33 inch door. And then we go. If we have any questions, we send it back to person who submitted their request and then we certify it.
Speaker 1:Okay, is there threshold of amount, of a minimum amount of externality that you would have to have? Yes, if I could squeeze a lot, and I imagine that all policies are going to have all way to eight, so it's not like a minimal.
Speaker 2:Yes, there is actually. Of course, I'm a woman, I'm high maintenance and it's all about me. So I tell my team. It's like, all right, think of me. Great thought.
Speaker 2:And can Lorraine get to that property? Can I take my van and drive to the property, get on the property and get out of my van? Can I get the front door? Or can I get to the accessible door? Get the front door, but the accessible door. Can I get through that door? Can I go to the bathroom? Can I go to bed? Can I hang out with my family?
Speaker 2:It's about eight things, and an example might be this property doesn't have grab bars in the bathroom. So how is it accessible for somebody who doesn't need grab bars? They're not going to click on that filter of grab bars. So if you need grab bars, I need grab bars, I'm going to click on. So if you don't have grab bars, that's not going to be a choice for you. And so, again, it's all designed around you, about what your needs are, not what somebody else's needs are. So a property that doesn't have the grab bars would not be included in your search. And that's really the key difference about what we do, because everything is centered around you and what your needs are in regard to accessibility.
Speaker 1:And why would somebody want to rent out in crappy as own? Was this a hotel?
Speaker 2:It's all about your needs. Sometimes it could be the noise, it could be the number of people. It's more affordable to rent out a two room short term rental versus booking two hotel rooms. You may have dietary needs and so you don't have the facility within the hotel to prepare your own food, blend your own foods. You just want more space. You don't want to share a bathroom with three other people. So it's again. It's more. Not that they're better or worse than a short term rental. It's all about what your needs are and to find out what best meets your needs. For us we look at the short term rental and hotels. Right now it's about 50-50. People say 50% are at hotels and 50% are short term rentals and it's about what your needs are in fulfilling those needs, not that one's better than the other. It's about your preference and sometimes affordability.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I was expecting in my mind. Can I submit any comments to individual seeking? Well, not everybody can use these accessible projects, like only one of all members is just able, and you know, would I be able to use it to have the rehab for other family members? Was there any education from the point of view of the ladies?
Speaker 2:It's not so much that we haven't had that issue. A people don't know about us. The only real issue that we still are conquering is the fear factor from property owners worried about getting sued because of the ADA. So we've recently worked with the National ADA Center and we'll be releasing a document about exactly what the ADA means, and I quote, unquote exactly because it's so gray, it is not black and it is not white. It's really cumbersome.
Speaker 2:And again, you think about the ADA being created over 30 years ago. In the short term, rental industry is only 15 years old and the whole idea of what it was an afterthought because we weren't created. The ADA was updated 10 years ago but again, very little information about it. So it's trying to defunct the idea of that. You're going to get sued. So that's one. The other question is somebody in a wheelchair is going to tear up my property, that they're this big wheelchair and they're going to ding my door and they're going to put a hole in my wall and all of that. And I'm the first to say I love my renters. I have a short term rental and two houses down is another short term rent and the other house is not accessible and that house has had more repairs and spent more money from party goers, from getting drawn pushing indoors, making holes in walls, vomit down the steps, and I have not had that problem because I think our disability community and my guest respect our property and are so thankful. I get gifts.
Speaker 2:I get gifts Just to say thank you for having this property, because if we didn't have it, then we wouldn't be able to enjoy our vacation, we wouldn't be able to come to the beach, and if I didn't have a disability, I would absolutely still have an accessible property, and there's such a need. It's a great investment for people who are looking for an investment property, but it's more of the not knowing. That has been the issue of question.
Speaker 1:Now clarification when these properties are available, the homeowner still staying in the house, because in Airbnb that can be a case.
Speaker 2:It depends on what you're renting. If it's an Airbnb, it's from Airbnb. That might be the case. Verbo is not the case. Vecasa is not the case. So, again, just depends on what your choices are. Okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then going back to the concern about these two, what has to have? Any concerns about the grab bar maybe falling off? You might have a rent in. It's a bit of a risk. Weight life hold on. And so how does it all go?
Speaker 2:I think there again, that's the benefit of us. We're just the listing plan. It's those booking agencies that need all of the liability stuff and documentation and for people to sign. But the liability comes in with any renter and so, regardless of a disability, it really does just rely on the renter. I saw a video recently where a gentleman booked a property for two months a luxury park property and then when the cleaning crew came back to clean it was obvious that there were lots of people there. The whole luxury property was trashed with food, with urine, with cans and bottles everywhere. Again, did that luxury property think about and have liability insurance for their renters? So I think it just industry wide. You have to keep that in mind. You can buy different insurance policies, but again, that is really up to the potential renter to make sure that they have in place insurance that they need. The property owner needs to make sure they have insurance they need and we just showcase the lovely property and then we say here you go, booking for.
Speaker 1:Have you done any serving of the homeowners about sparing them and need how much they might be charging? I know this is a different platform, but I think one the potential customers might be like somebody's like not going to charge me more because these are not access buses, not. Have you felt so engaged with the experience and how much they're charging?
Speaker 2:Not that we've done a specific survey on that, but we do try to keep our finger on the pulse of what the industry is bringing about and we have not seen an influx of cost because of the accessibility component and that, to date, has not been an issue that I'm aware of. I think the greater issue that people think about is the safety issue More and more with different underserved markets. If you're a solo women traveler, if you are a black traveler, if you're in the LGBTQ plus community, is to really look at the safety of where you're saying, safety about your debt, safety about those grab bars and that seems to be more of conversations that I see. In the short term, rental industry is more in lines of safety.
Speaker 1:OK, I'm always about entirely the disability community as entrepreneurs, as homeowners. Do you have a story of a disabled homeowner about that's going to rent out the property that you want to share with the audience?
Speaker 2:In a way, we own two and it has been an incredibly positive experience. And I reached out to another family who has an accessible short term rental, and actually the families that I've met that have short term rentals or want to have short term rentals. It starts with their personal need, that they haven't found a place that their family can enjoy and be on vacation outside of their home, and so they look at not only the investment but their personal experience of being able to go somewhere, and that was our case with our boys. It's like I wanted them to have a place that they could vacation, and we started this process on a personal note. Versus looking at the investment first, it was our family's needs first grew into.
Speaker 2:Wait a minute, maybe as we build this property, we should think about how can we bring revenue in to pay for the property, and then, secondly, we know that there is a need for this. So let's look at that. And again, we're approaching 10 years now of having our short term rental and that I'm so glad that we did get into this line of business, and everybody that I have talked to that has a disability or a family member with a disability has been very happy with their decision Because, again, it's affected their family life and quality of life so much.
Speaker 1:That's great. So your origin story of all this becoming rentable in the children.
Speaker 2:It is. We did not. We had a hard time traveling. There's three of us and so even going to Disney, the buses at Disney only have two tight ounce per bus. So there's three of us. So we had to divide and conquer. My husband would take one child, I'm taking the other. Then you have to go meet up when that's a little nervous and scary and time consuming. And then I tried the hotels and the bed was not, didn't meet my needs. We needed it lifted. That wouldn't put another mattress. They came in and they put phone books underneath the bed. So then they're going to get me out of the bed and lift me up and the phone books fall and I'm on the ground.
Speaker 2:We had, time after time, these experiences that weren't possible. And finally you throw your hands up and go. I give up and it's no, I'm not going to give up. My boys are in high school, they're going to be graduating. I want them, I know I want them to have these experiences and I had just retired. So yes, I quote retired 10 years ago. It lasted maybe a week and that's okay. I'm living my purposeful life. So I'm grateful for that.
Speaker 2:But it was about our family and our life and our quality of life, that I was turning 60 a couple of years ago and I'm sitting at the beach, I'm in my wheelchair, my legs are out and I'm looking at the sky, just loving the sounds of the ocean and seeing the birds, and it's all right. Lorraine, what brings you joy? I want to do one more thing, just one more. Run my career, and so I went through all of those questions that we may have about joy and happiness and purpose, and I love my renters. I love that, the stories.
Speaker 2:We had one family that drove two and a half days from Canada one way to come to our house, and when they got there, I'm going, why did you drive? And come all the way to Carolina Beach, north Carolina, and they said there's nothing else, there's no, wait a minute, you're in Canada, all of the East Coast. And they were like there's nothing else and it's no, you've got to be kidding. And so while they were here, we kept looking and there wasn't and it was like crazy. And then another story is of a family from Texas and they waited 28 years to find a place and the reason being their son had is blind, has a cognitive disability, is a wheelchair user when he was younger, dad could lift him, get him to the bathroom, get him through the door, and then he was 10 and could still lift him. Then 20 came, and then 25 came and dad couldn't lift him anymore. And so it wasn't until he was 48 years old and they found our place that met his needs of the elevator, of the bathroom, of the hues of color for his, his site, because, again, he's legally blind, his autism, so sound, was an issue. And then they got to vacation. I had another store. I love all my renters. It's over 400 families have rented from and I'll leave with one more story and it's with a family. They've adopted nine children and our second floor only holds enough for six. So she brought five of the kids with her. One is in a wheelchair, one is blind, two have Down syndrome and one is autistic.
Speaker 2:And I'm sitting out in the driveway and they roll in and a young boy's name is Gideon, gets out of the van and he said excuse me, ma'am, are you the owner of this property? And I said yes, I am. And he said thank you so much for building this house. Is it gonna be the first time that I can go on vacation and I can take a shower. And I'm so excited I can take a shower. And I said awesome, that's great, gideon.
Speaker 2:So the next day I go knock on the door, because we're on the third floor of this property, and I knock on the door and I said hey, gideon, how was your shower? And he goes fine. And I'm like what do you mean? Fine? He said guess what? And I said what? He goes, I can pump my own popcorn. And I don't have to ask my mom because the popcorn, the microwave, was at his level.
Speaker 2:And I said so, is that now your favorite thing? He said no. I said what do you mean? It's not, he goes. No, he said my mom, and I mom likes it cold and I don't, and so the thermostat is lower, so I don't have to ask her to change the thermostat, I can just go. And I said that's pretty awesome, so that's your favorite thing? He said no, it's like, gideon, you're killing me. What do you mean? And he said I can turn on and off the lights before I go to bed. And I said all right, that's got to be your favorite part. He said no. He said my favorite part is being independent.
Speaker 2:And that is such a great story for me. That's what he liked Then. That's what our property gave him. At 16 years old he could be independent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's what it sounds like becoming rentable where he does what, as the cool thing is, it allows people with disability your sat shout, just like I'm a bio.
Speaker 2:And create those memories. Exactly what we do. We're about creating memories. There we go.
Speaker 1:Create memories. Is there anything else for becoming rentable?
Speaker 2:It will be getting out our cognitive certification now. Then we'll do vision and hearing. We are going global. Right now we're in the United States and Canada, and so by the end of the year we hope to be more global than we are today. So we have big goals, dreams and hopes and a lot of people working hard to help us achieve them.
Speaker 1:Next slide Anything else you would like to say?
Speaker 2:If you want to reach out to us, please do it. Becomingrentablecom, that's B-E-C-O-N. Becoming I know I have to spell this out Becoming, then rent R-E-N-T and then ablecom. If you are looking and need advice on what makes a property accessible, go to our website. Give us a call, look us up and we'll be happy to help.
Speaker 1:All right, Thank you so much. All right, Thank you. Horizontalhousescom is a hub for all things related to disability home ownership. You will find my blog, this podcast, my book and how my consulting services can help real estate agents or housing developers market and tap into the largest minority group, the disability community. Please help me continue this exploration of disability home ownership by connecting through my Facebook page. Remember, sharing our collective experiences will allow us each to lower the kitchen sink but raise the bar for disability home ownership. Thank you.