March has been designated Month Of The Disabled, and on Mondays this month, the DAILY NATION has been focusing on men who are disabled or work with people with disabilities. Today we feature Michael Holder, who provides transportation for the disabled.
WHEN GOD BLESSES YOU, you have to bless others.
This is a concept Michael Holder has put into practice when he developed a business called Blessed Rentals Inc. to transport members of the disabled community, including locals and visitors to the island.
Holder and his wife started the venture in 2007 as a company just renting out vehicles. They stopped one year later, but resumed in 2012 when Holder lost his job and needed to find a source of income.
“I thought of going back to rentals and I went inthe port looking for a vehicle in the auction, but there was a van with the wheelchair access logo on it,”he recalled.
However, it was not in his spirit to go into disabled transportation then, Holder said. However, hiswife’s niece’s daughter later became suddenly ill with seizures, suffered brain damage and needed to be transported. After that he took the risk of purchasing the wheelchair accessible van.
Holder said that since no one else in Barbados was offering the service, he knew he would have to do some research about the market. Little did he know that the service would be in such great demand that he would be kept busy all day, everyday.
He went to other businesses in the transportation industry to see how he could complement their service, and was fortunate to form partnerships with them.
During the tourist season he does air to sea transfers for Foster Ince, his biggest customers. He also does work for the Barbados Council for the Disabled, the Barbados National Organisation for the Disabled as well as individual clients.
Michael Holder has plans of taking Blessed Rentals Inc. throughout the region.
Holder said there was a need for expansion,but he had encountered some challenges importing vehicles as well as the long wait in getting them outof the port.
He said his partners and clients were very accommodating. “They said I am what they were looking for. They are now able to offer that to their customers.”
Holder said his customers were his priority, and so he did not rush to get the job done. He added that he ensured his drivers were trained to give the best service and treat their clients with respect.
“It makes you appreciate life more; that is what the business has done for me from day one. You transport people and they talk to you. They feel comfortable; they want somebody to talk to, somebody to listen who genuinely cares. That is what this business is about,” he told the DAILY NATION.
Holder said he was led to start the business by God. “It is God that really guides me to do all these things. I did not sit down and analyse what was needed; it was God’s business from the start. When I can [start] with two jobs booked and end the day with 11, it has to be God’s hand.”
Holder, who said he was a Christian for a long time, said his goal was to bless others. “That is my purpose,” he said, while reflecting on the company’s motto: Blessed To Be A Blessing.
“How I know that this was a calling form God is because of the calls I get all hours of the day, sometimes early morning,” he said.
He lamented that while the island was importing a number of ambulances, none seemed equipped to properly cater to the disabled.
“We are bringing in ambulances for over $200 000 and none of them . . . have a lift. Somebody needs to sit down and say we need to get an ambulance with a lift, even if it has that one space for a wheelchair,” Holder said.
He said the service he provided was critical. While many years ago people with disabilities used to mostly stay at home, today a lot more want to explore and enjoy the island, not to mention tourists with disabilities who were flocking to the island.
His vehicles have wheelchair access signs emblazoned on them, and Holder is urging Barbadians to respect the signs.
“We transport people and we have to be mindful of their condition. We have to at times drive slowly, especially with the conditions of the road, but some people blow the horn and want to know why we don’t move out of the road. I ignore them,” he added.
Holder’s vision in helping transport the disabled goes beyond Barbados’ shores. He said though the venture would be costly, he intends to bless many more people all over the Caribbean. (LK)
