The Kelsey

The Kelsey disability-forward housing solutions that open doors to more homes and opportunities for everyone

06/12/2026

Accessible housing isn't just a requirement – it’s an opportunity to build more beautiful, inclusive, and connected communities. At last year's Disability-Forward Housing Futures Summit, we explored what true access looks like in housing. And, as Rebecca notes, it’s time to debunk the myth that accessible design has to be stale or institutional.

Ready to be part of the change? Don't miss more conversations like this at this year's summit.

Secure Early-Bird tickets now through July 31st!

Register today: https://bit.ly/DFHFS2026

Advocacy Alert: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is officially accepting public comments on th...
06/10/2026

Advocacy Alert: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is officially accepting public comments on the proposal to repeal the Equal Access Rule. The Equal Access Rule helps prevent housing discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people, including LGBTQIA+ people with disabilities. The rule also ensures that LGBTQIA+ people and their families receive equal access to critical housing and homelessness resources, including shelters. Without it, millions will be impacted.

Join us and submit a comment before June 29th to urge HUD to protect the Equal Access Rule. Learn more and take action: https://bit.ly/4xgV6Cu


Image description: A dark blue graphic. Text on the image reads, “Advocacy Alert: Tell HUD to Protect the Equal Access Rule!” A white bullhorn is in the lower left corner of the image. The Kelsey’s white, sun-shaped logo is in the lower right corner.

06/05/2026

The Disability-Forward Housing Futures Summit is returning for a second year!
Join us on Wednesday, December 2, 2026, virtually or at Berkeley’s Ed Roberts Campus — a groundbreaking model of inclusive, universal design.

Grounded in the three pillars of disability-forward housing — affordability, accessibility, and inclusivity — this year's event is a unique opportunity to build community, learn collectively, and discover how to advance disability-forward housing solutions.

Secure Early-Bird tickets now through July 31st!
Register today at https://bit.ly/DFHFS2026
Explore a full recap of last year’s summit at https://bit.ly/43i8I2Q

Welcome back to Disability-Forward Housing Advocacy 101! Today, we’ll be exploring what the Low-Income Housing Tax Cred...
06/02/2026

Welcome back to Disability-Forward Housing Advocacy 101! Today, we’ll be exploring what the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is and what it has to do with the VITAL Act, a proposed law that could increase disability-forward housing.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the main program that helps create affordable rental housing in the United States, and is an important tool in creating accessible, affordable, or disability-forward housing. Since 1986, LIHTC has helped create nearly 4 million homes for about 9 million low-income families. But here is the glaring issue: LIHTC currently doesn't require a single unit to be move-in ready for people with mobility or sensory needs. This leaves millions of disabled people completely locked out of the housing market.

But we can change this.

The VITAL (Visitable Inclusive Tax Credits for Accessible Living) Act would require and incentivize LIHTC to create more accessible and inclusive housing. Under this act, LIHTC housing must be:
• Accessible & adaptable for older adults and people with disabilities.
• Built in neighborhoods where it is easier to walk and roll to neighborhood amenities.

It’s time to build a disability-forward future. Take one minute to advocate for the VITAL Act today: https://bit.ly/vitalhousing119
Image description: A graphic. On one half, the text reads, “Disability-Forward Housing Advocacy 101: The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and why we need the VITAL Act.” The Kelsey’s sun-shaped, blue logo is in the lower left corner. On the other half, a picture of The Kelsey Ayer Station, an apartment building, on a blue-skied, sunny day. The Kelsey Ayer Station is a modern building with a warm beige and white facade and arched windows on the ground floor. A vertical banner on the building’s side reads "LiveTheKelsey.com," and a small, colorful logo with "The Kelsey" text is visible near the ground-floor arches.

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Mithun as our newest Committed Firm! By committing to using the Inclusive Design S...
05/27/2026

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Mithun as our newest Committed Firm! By committing to using the Inclusive Design Standards, Mithun is joining a community of designers, developers, and builders in championing access and inclusion across all phases of housing creation – from concept to lease-up.

Mithun has a powerhouse presence throughout the West Coast, including in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and believes in design’s power to connect people to places and each other. We’re thrilled to partner with a firm that shares our belief that community, beauty, and accessibility can, and should, work together.

Learn more about the Inclusive Design Standards and our Committed Firms: thekelsey.org/design
Image Description: A cream-colored graphic. Blue text reads, “Welcome our newest Committed Firm!” Below the text is Mithun’s logo: The text “MITHŪN” in large, black, block text. The Kelsey’s sun-shaped logo is in the lower right corner of the image.

We’re proud to announce that our CEO and Co-Founder, Micaela, has been awarded the 2026 Alumni Innovation Award by the H...
05/22/2026

We’re proud to announce that our CEO and Co-Founder, Micaela, has been awarded the 2026 Alumni Innovation Award by the Harvard Kennedy School! The award recognizes alumni who have identified a problem and an innovative solution that has a positive social impact.

Micaela’s leadership has been critical to advancing a disability-forward housing future, and we are deeply proud of this recognition. Watch Micaela speak about how we scale affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing, as well as what our current communities look like on a panel with fellow alumni honorees: https://bit.ly/4dscWe9
Image Description: Micaela, a white woman with long, wavy, brown hair, wearing a cream-colored jacket, a blue button-down shirt, and a statement necklace, sits and talks. She is gesturing with her hand and has a microphone clipped to her shirt. Behind her, a blue backdrop with Harvard Kennedy School’s logo patterned on it is visible.
Image description: Four people, including Micaela, our CEO and Co-Founder, sit on a panel. The panelists are of different races and genders and are wearing business attire. They’re sitting in wooden armchairs with the American flag hanging on a pole behind them next to a blue backdrop with the Harvard Kennedy School logo patterned on it. Three panelists are turned towards Micaela as she speaks.

We are deeply honored to receive the California Disability Innovation in Advocacy Award! But more than that, we are incr...
05/21/2026

We are deeply honored to receive the California Disability Innovation in Advocacy Award! But more than that, we are incredibly proud to be a part of a community dedicated to building a more inclusive future. Together, we are redefining what accessible and inclusive spaces look like. Onward!

We’re incredibly grateful to The Arc of California, ARCA - Association of Regional Center Agencies, Easterseals SoCal, a...
05/20/2026

We’re incredibly grateful to The Arc of California, ARCA - Association of Regional Center Agencies, Easterseals SoCal, and United Cerebral Palsy for honoring us with the California Disability Innovation in Advocacy Award at the 17th annual DisCo at the Capitol! Our Operations Assistant, Isaac, traveled to Sacramento this week to accept the award.

The award celebrates bold ideas and groundbreaking work that expand access and strengthen inclusion for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. A huge thank you to The Arc San Francisco for nominating us and for partnering with us in this work.

Receiving this award at an event focused on community services and inclusion was powerful — especially today, when looming budget cuts threaten to strip away the very support people with disabilities need to live in the community. We were proud to accept this award, but are even prouder to be a part of this movement.

Join us in telling our representatives to protect housing assistance for disabled people across the country: https://bit.ly/4do86P4
Image Description: Isaac, a Black man wearing a white t-shirt and an orange The Kelsey baseball cap, stands behind a podium on a stage and speaks into a microphone. Two people stand behind him. One is holding a glass award. A sign on the podium reads “DisCo at the Capitol: California Disability Community Advocacy Day.”

With the co-leadership of people with and without disabilities, we can create a better housing future. The Kelsey Ayer S...
05/18/2026

With the co-leadership of people with and without disabilities, we can create a better housing future. The Kelsey Ayer Station is proof of this. We’re grateful for all of our collaborators who brought this vision for human-centered design and community to life!

05/18/2026

It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since we opened the doors to our first community. We are incredibly grateful to the residents who make their homes at The Kelsey Ayer Station. Whether they are just living their day-to-day lives, giving us feedback to make things better, or supporting their neighbors, they are proof of what's possible.

The Kelsey residents are the heart of a disability-forward future – one where people with and without disabilities live side-by-side in the communities of their choice.

Check out what we’ve learned:

• We recently published our Post Occupancy Evaluation, compiling resident feedback on building design, shared spaces, and overall experience. Explore the findings here: https://bit.ly/4tEaAOT
• Hear directly from the community! Recap the full resident panel discussion here: https://bit.ly/4uLU27w

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1460 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
94103

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