Exclusive: Massachusetts mothers create mobile accessible bathroom
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A glimpse of the Lynnebago and its accessible bathroom. Photo: Courtesy of Lisa Marie Tulipani
A pair of North Shore advocates are building a bathroom on wheels in hopes of making festivals, meetups and other public activities accessible to people with disabilities.
Why it matters: Events of all kinds — from concerts to Pride festivals — shut out countless people with disabilities and others because they fail to offer bathrooms that truly fit their needs.
- Those individuals, and often their families, are effectively isolated from public life.
Driving the news: Lisa Marie Tulipani and her business partner, Maria Riley, have designed the Lynnebago, a two-room accessibility solution in a trailer with air conditioning and heating.
How it works: One room has a spacious bathroom with an ADA-compliant adult changing table that can adjust vertically.
- The second room is a sensory room, meant to console those experiencing sensory overload.
- There are signage and communication tools throughout for people who are non-verbal, hard of hearing and visually impaired.
Zoom in: For Tulipani, the Lynnebago is a solution to a problem her family has run into time and time again: where to find accessible activities for her 5-year-old son Petey to enjoy.
- Petey, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair.
- Life expectancy for people with quadriplegic cerebral palsy ranges from 20 to 70 years.
What they're saying: "I want those 20 years to be 20 years where we're out doing stuff. I want other families to be out doing stuff," Tulipani, a Lynn resident and co-founder, tells Axios.
- "I'm not going to sit here and wait for people in power to realize dignity in public spaces is important."
Zoom out: Boston lags behind cities like Honolulu and St. Paul, Minnesota, in terms of accessibility, per several surveys and reports.
- A 2024 Forbes Health review ranked Boston 70 out of 93 cities in terms of accessibility, with only 5% of rentals being wheelchair-accessible.
- In Honolulu, which ranked No. 1, nearly one-third of rentals are wheelchair accessible. Honolulu also reported more accessible attractions and restaurants per capita than Boston did.
Reality check: The Lynnebago is a prototype, and it'll take time for the company to scale up to send multiple trailers to parks or public events.
- The duo secured a $75,000 grant through the Arc Tank, a Northeast Arc disability innovation funding competition, to cover the cost of building the prototype.
What's next: Lynnebago's founders are fundraising to fine-tune the prototype and launch it.
- If you want a closer look, they'll unveil the prototype Sept. 21 at the Northeast Arc Walk/Run/Roll for Inclusion.