News from Housing Venture Lab Alumni
As the fifth year of the Housing Venture Lab gets underway, our network of program alumni continue to grow, as does their impact. Read on for exciting updates from The Kelsey, Housing Connector, PadSplit, Impact Justice, Frolic, Trust Neighborhoods, and Pronto as they continue to make strides in advancing affordability, sustainability, and equity in housing.
Housing Venture Lab Fall Retreat
We recently held our Fall Retreat with the 2024 cohort: FWDSlash, LadderUp, Appraisal Insights, BuildCasa, Firm Foundation Community Housing, and ROC USA. The new cohort came together to meet their coaches, set goals for the next few months of the program, and get to know each other. For the next several months, they'll work together and with Terner Labs staff, coaches and advisors to chart a course for growth. We were also lucky to be joined by Terner Labs founder Carol Galante and Housing Venture Lab alumni Aishatu Yusuf of Impact Justice and Mark Hall of Revalue.io.
The Kelsey opens two new disability-inclusive buildings
The Kelsey (2022 cohort), a San-Francisco based organization promoting disability-inclusive, affordable housing across the U.S., recently opened a new mixed-affordability apartment complex in San Jose, California. The Kelsey Ayer Station is designed to meet the needs of disabled people, including community-building programs, resident outings, inclusion concierges, and accessibility-centered design, and was recently featured in a PBS NewsHour segment about the dearth of affordable housing for people with disabilities. The Kelsey plans to open its newest project, The Kelsey Civic Center, in 2025.
Housing Connector's Shkëlqim Kelmendi selected for the Obama Leaders Program
Shkëlqim Kelmendi, founder and CEO of Housing Connector (2023 cohort), which connects housing voucher holders with rental units, was recently selected for the 2024-2025 Obama Leaders Program in recognition of his work to increase affordable housing access and drive systems-level change in housing.
Housing Connector partners with property managers to streamline the application and rental process for renters with housing vouchers. In Washington's King County, a partnership with Housing Connector resulted in the highest emergency housing voucher utilization rate in the nation. Since 2019, Housing Connector has housed more than 7,600 people across Washington, Colorado, Texas and Oregon, with ongoing expansion to cities around the country.
A PadSplit resident shares her story
PadSplit (2020 cohort) is a marketplace providing shared workforce housing by helping homeowners modify their properties to add affordable rental units. PadSplit recently shared a video spotlighting Amber Bailey of Atlanta, Georgia, whose PadSplit rental provided a way out of homelessness and a foundation from which she built her own business. To date, PadSplit has listed over 14,000 units in 20 markets across the country, helping 32,000 people find housing.
The Homecoming Project on NBC Bay Area
Impact Justice’s Homecoming Project (2021 cohort), which partners with homeowners who offer rooms in their homes to people returning from incarceration, was recently featured on NBC Bay Area in a profile of a family who offered their home to Joy Pagaduan, who was seeking a place to land after 23 years of incarceration. Impact Justice has housed more than 100 people through the program; 100% have gone on to find stable housing of their own. The Homecoming Project is now recruiting hosts in Contra Costa and Los Angeles counties.
Frolic opens a new co-housing community in Seattle, with more on the way
This summer, Frolic (2022 cohort) opened applications for their first cohousing community, the Corvidae Co-op, in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. The 10-unit project features a shared-equity co-op structure, designed to reduce purchase price and living expenses, and offers shared amenities and proximity to mass transit. Learn about Frolic’s other upcoming projects here.
Trust Neighborhoods builds community power with a new MINT in Denver
Last month, Trust Neighborhoods (2021 cohort) launched their fifth mixed-income neighborhood trust (MINT) in the East Colfax neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, in partnership with the East Colfax Community Collective. Their first acquisition in the project is a 23-unit apartment building; the project’s goal is to acquire 100 to 250 units over the next two years to stabilize rents, promote community control, and improve housing conditions for local renters.
Two alumni companies talk technology and affordable housing
Pronto Housing (2022 cohort) and PadSplit (2020 cohort) recently spoke on CBRE’s podcast about how new, technology-driven business models can advance affordable and accessible housing.
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