Creating More Opportunities
We make more possible with partners who engage in our mission as advocates, experts, advisors, co-creators, storytellers, and supporters.
Your generosity helps us build homes, advance policies, and make inclusive communities a reality, nationwide.
“This organization [gives] permission to think outside the box, to dream big, to cross the different disciplines and sectors, to build something new that will benefit the disability community and benefit all of us.”
Great Progress, Made Together
We are co-developing 240+ community homes in one of our nation’s most challenging housing markets, together with almost 1,000 community and civic leaders, and backed by funding from major partners.
Public, private, philanthropic partnerships are the critical foundation for establishing a scalable model for disability-inclusive, affordable housing across the US.
Less than 12% of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) rent or own their own home.
FAQs
Find answers to questions you may have about donating, investing, or about our housing development and advocacy work.
Collaboration and community partnerships are central to our mission. You can engage with The Kelsey as a partner, donor, co-developer, or community leader. Involvement opportunities include joining an advocacy initiative, hosting a fundraiser, co-developing housing, accessing resources on our Learn Center, or sharing your housing story. We also host regular events, like Inclusion Hours, that are open to the community. If you’re interested in exploring co-development, in need of technical assistance, or want to explore other partnership opportunities, contact us.
Our advocacy focuses on unlocking new funding and advancing policies that increase the production of accessible, affordable, inclusive housing as well as policies around improving housing opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities who use supportive services. We work with partners nationally on policies to advance a disability-forward housing future as well as in collaboration with regional organizations in the communities where our housing projects and Technical Assistance partners are located.
If you have an advocacy initiative you’d like to share with us for support contact us here. You can also tag us on social media @TheKelseyMore so we can elevate your work.
Our work directly addresses gaps in housing through a model that was co-developed by people with and without disabilities. Our work began with human-centered focus groups with people with disabilities, as well as their family members and care systems, to identify what was missing in their housing opportunities and which key features should be included in new solutions. Since those initial focus groups, disabled people have driven our work as team members, board members, community advisors, paid consultants, and experts.
Core to our approach is an understanding that people with disabilities have intersectional identities and may experience marginalization on multiple levels. We work to center people with disabilities who have historically been underrepresented in housing and disability rights. This includes BIPOC and LGBTQIA people, immigrants, those who have experienced housing insecurity and homelessness, and disabled people who hold other marginalized identities.
Our philanthropic partners provide both general operating support and project-specific capital. Gifts of all levels make an impact. Unrestricted funding supports all aspects of our programmatic initiatives serving individuals and communities nationwide, as well as early project exploration and acquisition that allows us to move faster to develop inclusive housing. Project-specific investment can include donated and concessionary lending capital to develop inclusive housing communities. Naming opportunities are also available in all of our current projects in development. Email annie@thekelsey.org to explore naming opportunities or other capital needs.