San Jose apartments designed for people with disabilities

There is no housing market in the U.S. where someone who is disabled and living on Supplemental Security Income can afford an apartment without rental assistance. A disability-forward housing nonprofit wants to change that.

The Kelsey is changing how housing developments are built for low and moderate-income households and people with disability needs , with its first project in downtown San Jose welcoming renters in April. The nonprofit intentionally selects locations that are close to public transit.

The Kelsey Ayer Station at 457 N. First St. is a $75 million project funded by a public and private partnership that includes $17 million from San Jose, $26 million in federal low-income housing tax credits and $2 million from philanthropic sources. The nonprofit aims to construct more apartments for people with disabilities across the Bay Area.

“Ours is unique and it’s all encompassing. It’s also been co-led by people with and without disabilities,” Micaela Connery, co-founder of The Kelsey, told San José Spotlight. “We are the first to focus on this cross-disability access and particularly to have this link between both the physical access and the supportive services.”

Connery said she hopes this becomes a model for housing developers across the nation.

The Kelsey accepts individuals or families making 20% to 80% of the area median income in Santa Clara County, which is $25,800 for a single individual to $147,440 for a family of four.

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At The Kelsey Ayer Station, colorful carpets, large paintings, sleek lighting and comfortable sofas grace the common areas. The building has been designed with the disabled community in mind, including the automatic doors, color coded floors and signs with pictures and symbols. The apartments have roll-in showers and counter heights that meet the needs of people in wheelchairs. They even provide addendums in plain language to make rental agreements easier to understand.

There are “inclusion concierges,” people who put on events for residents and connect them to outside services.

“You need to build housing very intentionally that provides affordability, access and inclusion, and does so in a way that allows people with disabilities to have their individualized access needs met, but still at a model that is universally applicable across needs,” Connery said.

Connery co-founded The Kelsey with her late cousin, who the nonprofit is named after, in 2017 after Kelsey wrestled with physical and developmental disabilities. It took her cousin six years to find housing and she was eventually placed in a group home after much advocacy on her parents’ part.

After seeing the lack of housing options available for people with disabilities and realizing it was a systemic issue across the country, Connery decided to do something about it.

Kelsey passed away shortly after the organization started, but her legacy continues dismantling narratives and changing lives — including Debra Townley’s.

After years of living in her van, Townley feels like she is finally returning to her normal self. A car accident in 2010 left her with a fractured vertebrae and a neurological disorder that causes stabbing pain around her face. No longer able to work, Townley spiraled into homelessness. She lived with the constant shame of being ostracized by society while her health conditions continued to worsen.

“I was super social before I became homeless,” Townley told San José Spotlight. “I was just a mess over there.”

Townley was able to gain a sense of normalcy after moving into Villas at the Park , a permanent supportive housing development for those struggling with homelessness. She said she was grateful for a home, but the building didn’t accommodate all of her and her adult son’s needs, who also has disabilities. The hallways in the building were narrow, the non-automatic doors were heavy and the elevators were constantly malfunctioning. It was hard for her and her son to comfortably live in a 250-square-foot studio, but it was better than being on the streets.

“I really believe I would have died had I not had intervention,” Townley said.
Townley and her son moved into The Kelsey a few weeks ago, and she said they’ve already experienced a marked difference. With a spacious, artfully designed two-bedroom apartment created with their needs in mind, Townley feels like The Kelsey is a place she can finally call home.

“It’s very different from permanent supportive housing where staff are angry and burnt out,” she said. “I’m calming down. I’m already seeing cognitive stuff come back online a little bit. I see room for more possibilities.”

The Kelsey is still accepting applications for people making 80% of the area median income. All people regardless of ability are welcome to apply.

Contact Joyce Chu at joyce@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @joyce_speaks on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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