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Shaped by its late co-founder Kelsey Flynn O’Connor’s experience as a disabled advocate for access and community, The Kelsey is pioneering disability-forward housing solutions that open doors to homes and opportunities for everyone.

An illustration of people with and without disabilities, some standing and some in wheelchairs, putting large and colorful building blocks together.

It’s hard to give value to people with disabilities if you don’t have proximity and see them as real people who have the same kinds of lived experiences that you do.  So, the more separation that we have, the less we’re really getting to the problem.

Abby Yim, Integrated Community Services

For media inquiries, contact anna@thekelsey.org

The Kelsey in the News

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New York Amsterdam News

The Housing Barrier Part 3: One housing developer’s solution
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New York Amsterdam News logo

New York Amsterdam News

The Housing Barrier Part 1: Gun violence survivors struggle to find accessible housing
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The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

The Kelsey: Providing accessible homes and community for people of all abilities
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The National Low-Income Housing Coalition logo

National Low Income Housing Coalition

The Kelsey Releases Advocate’s Guide on Advancing...
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The logo of the National League of Cities. Three blue letters read NLC" with the words "National League of Cities" written out next to them.

National League of Cities

Disability-Forward Design Across Multiple Cities
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San Francisco Chronicle

New Disability-Forward Housing in S.F.'s Civic Center Pays Homage
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Urban Institute

Embedding Disability Equity into Efforts to Advance Upward Mobility
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Financial Times

How a cousin’s disability inspired an inclusive housing organisation
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Affordable Housing Finance

The Kelsey Celebrates Its Inaugural Community
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The logo for the city of Denver. It's a letter D with a sun in the middle of it. Text below it reads "Denver, The Mile High City."

Denver

Barriers, Solutions to Address Housing Needs for People with I/DD
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The logo of "Bham Now"-Turquoise letters spelling "Bham Now" written in cursive

Bham Now

New disability-forward housing coming to Avondale in 2026
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ABC News

Disability-forward housing planned for Birmingham's Avondale community
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San Francisco Chronicle

S.F. is one of three cities worldwide honored for promoting clean air. Here’s why
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PBS News Hour

People with disabilities face extra hurdles amid national housing shortage
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SF Yimby

Affordable Housing Tops Out in Civic Center, San Francisco
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SF Gate

San Jose Apartments Designed For People With Disabilities
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San José Spotlight

San Jose apartments designed for people with disabilities
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NBC KSN

Priced Out: Affordable homes needed for disabled people
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CBS 42

City of Birmingham to do away with minimum parking space requirements
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Buckrail

Housing Department launches accessibility assessment
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Open Minds

Denver Asks Landlords & Builders About Barriers To Housing People With I/DD
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Mile High CRE

DHS Awards Contract to Nonprofit Developer The Kelsey
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Denver

DHS IDDEAS Program awards contract to Nonprofit The Kelsey
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Urban Institute

Trauma-Informed Housing
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HUD Logo

HUD Channel

The 50th Anniversary of The Rehabilitation Act: Past Present and Future
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Urbanland

Affordability and Accessibility: From Bad to Worse in a Tight U.S. Housing Market
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CNBC - Personal Finance

Personal Finance Less than 5% of U.S. housing supply is accessible to older, disabled Americans. These changes may help
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A light skinned woman wearing an orange button down shirt and tan pants wheels through a room in a wheelchair.

The New York Times

How to Make Your Home Accessible
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Affordable Housing Finance

Silicon Valley Bank’s Fall Hits Affordable Housing
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The resident entry of The Kelsey Civic Center. Children and adults, including one in a wheelchair, are outside the building.

San Francisco Examiner

Affordable housing project breaks ground steps away from City Hall
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Shelterforce

Cross-Disability Design Makes Housing Better for Everyone
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People with and without disabilities wearing construction hard hats and vests visiting a construction site at The Kelsey Ayer Station in San Jose.

Inside Philanthropy

How Funders Need to Change to Spark a Revolution in Accessible, Affordable, Inclusive Housing
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The logo for "Affordable Housing Finance"

Affordable Housing Finance

Silicon Valley Bank’s Fall Hits Affordable Housing
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Text on Image reads "Eve Pickler's Rethinking Real Estate for Good." Micaela Connery, A white woman smiling at the camera with long, wavy, brown hair, is pictured wearing a yellow shirt.

Rethinking Real Estate for Good

Disability Forward Housing
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The Hill

There is a looming housing crisis for people with disabilities. Here’s how we can act now.
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A screenshot of 5 people speaking at the research launch event. The top left person is using ASL.

Urban Institute

People with Disabilities Living in the US Face Urgent Barriers to Housing
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Text on image reads "Reed Autism Services, Cutting Edge Inclusive Communities. Ep. 2, With Micaela Connery and Isaac Haney-Owens, Co-founder & CEO,. The Kelsey, Communications Analyst, The Kelsey. The logos for Spotify, itunes, and YouTube are pictured. Micaela Connery and Isaac Haney-Owens are pictured. Micaela is a light skinned woman with long, dark hair wearing gold earrings. She is wearing a green shirt and a gray sweater. Isaac Haney-Owens is a dark-haired man wearing glasses, a blue sweater, and a t-shirt underneath.

Changemakers in Autism Podcast

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Justin Tsang, a young Asian man, is pictured holding a coffee cup looking through shutters. He has ark hair and is wearing a blue button down shirt.

Forbes

This Team Is Redefining ‘Home For The Holidays’ For People With Disabilities
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This is Landscape

Shapes of Power with Micaela Connery of The Kelsey
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The exterior of The Kelsey Civic Center

SF Yimby

Demolition Permits Filed For Kelsey Civic Center in the Civic Center, San Francisco
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An Image of a dark-skinned man sitting in a wheelchair. He is wearing a hat, glasses, a t-shirt and light-colored pants. In the background a window and clothes hanging on a cabinet can be seen.

Center for American Progress

Disability-Forward Policy Recommendations To Advance Accessible and Affordable Housing for All
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Whole Whale

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A picture of a phone shows the Civic Center page on the website.

Design Week

The identity for a disability-inclusive housing group resists “outdated perceptions”
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Reasons to be Cheerful

Cooperative Housing Is Redefining ‘Home’ for People with Disabilities
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San Francisco City Hall

Curbed - San Francisco

Affordable homes for disabled residents might go up right next to SF City Hall
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Micaela Connery a light skinned woman with long dark hair wearing a purple dress is seen walking with Liz Grigsby, a dark skinned woman in a wheelchair wearing a pink sweater and dark pants.

San Francisco Chronicle

SF affordable housing project would create homes for developmentally disabled
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The CEO of The Kelsey, Micaela Connery, is pictured with her cousin, Kelsey. Kelsey is a light-skinned woman with short dark hair. Micaela is a light-skinned woman with long dark hair. They are both smiling.

Google

Investing in affordable and inclusive communities
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Two people outside of a doorway hug, as three other people, one who is in a wheelchair, look on.

FOX KTVU

New housing project in San Jose to help those with disabilities
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Image of Micaela Connery, a light skinned woman with dark hair, working on a laptop, in a duo pop filter. Text on image reads "Micaela Connery: Fellow Spotlight Series."

Harvard Social Innovation Change Initiative

Micaela Connery: Building Inclusive Housing in the Bay Area
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Media Bios

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Micaela Connery

Co-founder and CEO
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A white middle aged woman with brown hair is smiling and seated in front of a brick wall with her hands in her pockets.

Caroline Bas

COO
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White queer person smiling in their manual wheelchair with short brown hair, round glasses, earrings, and a blazer.

Allie Cannington

Director of Advocacy and Organizing
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Fatimah Aure, a dark-skinned woman with dark hair wearing a shirt with a decorative neckline is pictured.

Fatimah Aure

Director of Field and Capacity Building
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