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Category: Advocacy

The Disability & Housing Narrative Change Cohort 2024: In Conversation with Keah Brown

The Disability and Housing Narrative Change Cohort is a year-long virtual program bringing together disabled leaders from across the country to share and amplify their unique housing experiences.Facilitated by staff with lived experience, the cohort works to shift what we call dominant narratives challenging ableist policies and practices that drive exclusion. Cohort members write their personal stories, engage with narrative change experts, receive peer support, and gain training on using storytelling as a tool to advocate for disability-forward housing policy and engage with the media. We’re excited to bring you along for a conversation with one of the most groundbreaking storytellers of our time: Keah Brown.

How Graduate Programs of Architecture Can Be More Accessible to Students with Disabilities

In 1974, Mary Ann Hiserman applied to the School of Architecture at The University of California Berkeley. Although there were few female architects at that time, this wasn’t the only thing that made Mary Ann unique. Due to Rheumatoid Arthritis, Mary Ann was an electric wheelchair user.  Adaptations such as lowering workstations were made to allow Mary Ann to more easily draw.  Even fifty years later, there are many barriers that make it difficult for people with disabilities to pursue careers as architects. This article will examine those barriers as well as possible solutions to them.

The Kelsey Featured on PBS NewsHour

The Kelsey and the community at The Kelsey Ayer Station were featured in PBS NewsHour. The episode featured Disability & Housing Narrative Change Cohort member Jensen Caraballo, our Communications Analyst Isaac Haney-Owens, and The Kelsey Ayer Station resident Trevor Lucken.

Inclusive Housers Call for HUD to Improve the 811 Capital Advance program

In this letter, the inclusive housing developers share recommendations for how the HUD 811 Capital Advance program can be more affirmative toward integrated housing models. Specifically, the letter recommends tangible mechanisms by which HUD can strengthen its Capitol Advance program criteria, including adding additional points and other incentives for integrated projects, entitling by-right to integrated projects, and increasing the capacity of newer developers and inclusive housers.

The VITAL Act has been introduced in the United States Senate.

The VITAL Act, Visitable Inclusive Tax Credits Act for Accessible Living, has been introduced in the United States Senate. If enacted, the bill would increase investment in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC) and ensure that developers are building more accessible, affordable housing.

BAHFA Equity Framework: Disability-Forward Recommendations

The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) is the state’s first regional housing finance agency. The Kelsey joined as a member of the BAHFA Equity Working Group, convened by UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute, with the working group establishing an Equity Framework to serve as the foundation of the BAHFA Business.