[Nfb-lions] Cheryl Echevarria: Founder, Echevarria Travel – Advocate for the Blind
Ramona Walhof
ramona.walhof at gmail.com
Thu Feb 16 15:42:49 UTC 2012
Nice article, Cheryl.
Ramona
----- Original Message -----
From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
To: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 7:48 AM
Subject: [Nfb-lions] 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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