[nabentre] FW: Cheryl Echevarria: Founder, Echevarria Travel - Advocate for the Blind

[Mary Ellen]

Bravo!  You clearly did a good job of educating that reporter.
Congratulations on a well deserved honor.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: nabentre-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabentre-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of cheryl echevarria
Sent: February 16, 2012 7:45 AM
To: nfbentre
Subject: [nabentre] FW: Cheryl Echevarria: Founder, Echevarria Travel -
Advocate for the Blind










February 16, 2012  This is from www.fortune52.com, I am also going to be
honored with 52 other women from Across Long Island on March 12, 2012Cheryl
Echevarria is blind and might not be able to sightsee like everyone else,
yet this intrepid Brentwood woman loves to travel. She relies on her service
dog, Maxx, her heightened sense of smell, touch and sound and the confidence
that comes from traveling often.Born with Type 1 diabetes, Cheryl was 22
years old when she was diagnosed with diabetic retinopothy, a common
diabetic eye disease that is the leading cause of blindness in American
adults.Cheryl's life changed forever one night in 2001 when she was driving
home from her job as an administrative assistant when suddenly, she recalls,
her vision became completely blurry. "I had to pull over. I couldn't
see."Cheryl's doctor told her that if her diabetes was affecting her eyes,
it would also affect other organs in her body. Subsequently her kidneys
began to fail as well. In 2002 she began kidney dialysis treatments three
times a week for four hours a day. Her treatments continued for three years
until she went through another life-altering experience when her friend
Steve Carroll donated his kidney to her.Once Cheryl recuperated from the
organ transplant, she was determined to go back to work. During her dialysis
treatments, she lost her sight completely in one eye. She says her remaining
sight is "like looking through a telescope hole covered in thick
plastic."Cheryl enrolled in a training program provided by the New York
State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped (CBVH), where she
learned new job skills, including how to use computer software for the
blind.After completing the program, Cheryl was ready for the next step in
her recovery which was to go back to school. She began taking classes at
Branford Hall Career Institute in Bohemia, and became the school's first
blind student to graduate. She found an administrative job in the healthcare
field where she worked for two years.Cheryl felt she missed 10 years of her
life being sick and was ready to transition into a new career. She began
scouring the internet for new connections."I found the National Federation
of the Blind (NFB) online and joined the greater Long Island chapter," she
says.The NFB is the largest non-profit organization in the world for the
blind that is operated by the blind. Cheryl now serves as the treasurer of
the Long Island chapter, adding that all members and officers must be blind
to serve in a board position. "We are advocates for education, employment
and accessibility," Cheryl says proudly. "We lobby ourselves, we don't hire
anyone."After searching through the federation's resources, she decided that
becoming a travel agent would be a good career choice. She loved to travel
and she could work from home. "I have a background in customer service and
sales, and this was a good fit," she says. After completing her job training
online, Cheryl started working through a host travel agency, confident that
becoming a travel agent was the right career move.In 2009 Cheryl and her
husband, Nelson, founded Echevarria Travel. Cheryl says Nelson is an
integral part of the agency, and is the photographer and videographer for
the travel images used on their website. "I'm the only blind travel agent in
the tri-state area that I know of," she says and was recently named
president of the NFB's national travel and tourism division.Cheryl's
blindness has given her a very clear insight into the planning required to
ensure a pleasurable trip for her clients.Her agency offers services to
everyone, but Cheryl's specialty is the traveler who is blind, on dialysis,
in a wheelchair, or has had an organ transplant. As a survivor of all of
these illnesses, Cheryl is uniquely qualified to help them plan their
trip."I know what a person would need and the questions to ask," she says.
"What's your degree of blindness?  Do you use a cane?"If travel plans
include a cruise, she will want to know if the client can read Braille. "I
ask because not everyone does," she explains. "If they don't [read Braille],
I contact the cruise line and make sure they get a meet-and-greet and tour
of the ship so they can familiarize themselves with their surroundings," she
says.If they plan on traveling with their service animal, Cheryl explains
that they will need to go to their vet to get a health certificate and they
need to secure a permit to bring the animal into another country.The cruise
industry has taken notice of this newly mobile customer base and are making
their vessels more accessible so sight-impaired travelers can acclimate
themselves quickly.Cheryl has been working closely with Norwegian Cruise
Lines, and says she helped them implement Braille menus on their ships.No
two visually impaired people have the same level of functional vision so
Cheryl helps her clients overcome some of the red tape they might encounter
to ensure that they have a good experience. All of this pre-travel
preparation includes additional paperwork that Cheryl helps her clients
complete as part of her services.Understanding the requirements and
information needed for traveling today is invaluable. As a travel advocate
and advisor for the blind, Cheryl has opened up a world of new experiences
for these sensory travelers that might have been out of reach before.For
more information, email: reservations at echevarriatravel.com, call Cheryl at
631-456-5394 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            631-456-5394
end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
631-456-5394      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            631-456-5394
end_of_the_skype_highlighting , or toll free at  866-580-5574
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            866-580-5574
end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
866-580-5574      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            866-580-5574
end_of_the_skype_highlighting  ; or go to:www.echevarriatravel.com. For
daily updates read Cheryl's blog atwww.echevarriatravel.wordpress.com
Leading the Way in Independent Travel!

Cheryl Echevarria
http://www.echevarriatravel.com
631-456-5394 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            631-456-5394
end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
631-456-5394      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
reservations at echevarriatravel.com

For daily updates read our blog at
http://www.echevarriatravel.wordpress.com

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