Christine Smith was tired of hearing stories about people booking holiday homes under the guise of being accessible for people with disabilities, only for them to arrive and find stairs where a ramp should be.<\/p>\n
Devastated individuals returning home unable to access paid accommodation.<\/p>\n
So, in 2012 Chris and her husband Andrew bought a double block in Ocean Grove with a vision to build fully accessible holiday accommodation.<\/p>\n
As a 20-year veteran of Victoria Police, Ms Smith said she developed understanding towards people living with a disability. That understanding deepened when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour, which has left her living with disability herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was 18 years old when I joined the police force and left as a 38-year-old. I overlapped the last 10 years with our accommodation business (that started in 2007 under a different name),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had clients calling up and asking if we had a lowered shower or wheel chair accessibility. We didn\u2019t have those
\nfacilities and realised it is such an underrepresented market so sought to bridge the gap.\u201d<\/p>\n
A search for homes to modify was unsuccessful so they drew up plans to build their own, and were just about to build when Chris was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went into hospital to remove the tumour the following week. I lost my balance, I\u2019m deaf in one ear and there were complications from the original surgery, which resulted in face paralysis.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy last operation was in December and I\u2019m still having operations to try and correct the nerve damage. I went from being this relatively attractive and confident woman, to being a recluse \u2013 I didn\u2019t want to leave the home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Smith said since her operation all her advocacy work is around physical accessibility to public places or buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about ensuring only accommodation is accessible but any business open to the public: it\u2019s not a favour, it\u2019s a basic human right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Smith and her business Great Ocean Stays have won several awards, including the Excellence in Creating Inclusive Communities Award at the 2018 Victorian Disability awards.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve also been awarded the Geelong Business Excellence Award (GBEA) for Best Accessible Business in 2016, 2017 and the 2018 GBEA for Best Home-Based Business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had young families with a terminally ill member come for their last holiday. We\u2019ve had people use the unit as a trial run to gain confidence and see if they can live independently.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have hospital beds and equipment that can accommodate for different abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Smith said her own disability has left her feeling self-conscious daily but is adamant she\u2019ll continue advocating for change and social inclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel self-conscious every day, it\u2019s still very numb and I\u2019m in pain. The only peace I get is at night when I\u2019m asleep. Pardon the pun but with facial paralysis, it\u2019s in your face – you can\u2019t hide your face,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a recluse for two years and it got to a point where I knew we could do something good here otherwise we\u2019d go down a bad road. That\u2019s when I started to build a profile in disability advocacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t understand disabilities: talk to me like I\u2019m normal (which I am), don\u2019t yell at me like I\u2019m stupid, I\u2019ve had people talk to me like I\u2019m an idiot.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t pat people on the head in a wheelchair or tell them they\u2019re an inspiration while they\u2019re trying to do their grocery shopping. They\u2019re just trying to get their groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Smith said there\u2019s a term called Ableism and it\u2019s not until you\u2019re living with a disability that you\u2019re fully aware of \u201csocial prejudice\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of social prejudice and discrimination against people with disabilities. I see our world as very inaccessible and often unnecessarily so,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a high percentage of people with disabilities that don\u2019t even bother going on holidays or out to cafes or restaurants because it\u2019s too hard. We need to change people\u2019s attitudes towards people with disabilities and work towards building an inclusive society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Christine Smith was tired of hearing stories about people booking holiday homes under the guise of being accessible for people with disabilities, only for them to arrive and find stairs where a ramp should be. Devastated individuals returning home unable to access paid accommodation. So, in 2012 Chris and her husband Andrew bought a double […]<\/p>\n