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Inspired 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 image 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

The Kelsey co-develops accessible, affordable, inclusive multifamily housing for people with and without disabilities. Available to those making 20% to 80% of area median income, The Kelsey housing allows disabled people and others with a wide range of needs and life experiences to live side by side in equally high-quality homes. With its first community open in San Jose, Calif., and 112 homes in development in San Francisco—some of the nation’s most challenging housing markets—The Kelsey proves this model is buildable anywhere. In addition to developing housing and providing on-site Inclusion Concierge services, which promote connection among residents, The Kelsey advocates for policy changes that enable inclusive housing and provides tools and templates for others who want to build housing using The Kelsey’s model.

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For media inquiries, contact anna@thekelsey.org

The Kelsey Featured on PBS NewsHour!

We are honored and excited to share that The Kelsey was featured on PBS NewsHour! Tune in to learn more about how the housing crisis disproportionately affects people with disabilities and how we’re addressing this critical issue.

Over 70 million people with disabilities in the United States face barriers to housing, including the cost of housing, discrimination, a severe lack of accessible housing, and more. Our mission is to make affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing, what we call “disability-forward” housing, the norm, and we are grateful to be a part of a field and community that is pushing to make this a reality.

The Kelsey in the News

San Francisco Chronicle

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PBS News Hour

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San José Spotlight

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Open Minds

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Mile High CRE

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The logo of the Urban Institute

Trauma-Informed Housing

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HUD Logo

HUD Channel

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Urbanland

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CNBC - Personal Finance

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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

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The sign above the entrance way of Silicon Valley Bank

Affordable Housing Finance

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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

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Shelterforce

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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

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Affordable Housing Finance

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Rethinking Real Estate for Good

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Urban Institute

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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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This is Landscape

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Center for American Progress

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Whole Whale

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Design Week

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Reasons to be Cheerful

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San Francisco City Hall

Curbed - San Francisco

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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

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Harvard Social Innovation Change Initiative

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Media Bios

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Micaela Connery

Co-founder and CEO
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Caroline Bas

COO
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White queer person smling in their manual wheelchair with short brown hair, round glasses, earirings, 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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