Building Inclusivity

Join Main Street Connect and The Kelsey as we gather thought leaders and housing developers working to create, maintain and sustain affordable, inclusive, accessible housing.

Participants will:

  • Learn from organizations and leaders in the housing development phase
  • Learn from organizations already in operation as they share concept vs. reality
  • Participate in conversations with thought leaders around the country and explore different housing concepts and models
  • Learn various funding and financing sources
  • Participate in thoughtful and timely advocacy and policy discussions 
DISCLAIMER: All conference participants are required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative local PCR test.
Register Here

Tentative Conference Information

Click on the toggles below to read the daily schedules and more detailed information for the conference.

5pm – 8:15pm : Cocktails & Dinner

Main Street Connect Speakers:

  • Jillian Copeland
  • Sharon Cichy

8am – 4pm : Housing Models and Financing Learning

  • Housing Development Presentations:
    • Main Street (Rockville, MD)
    • The Kelsey (San Francisco & San Jose, CA)
  • Roundtables on Key Topics by Inclusive Housing Leaders
    • Donna Budway – Our Stomping Ground
    • Alicia DeLashmutt – Our Home, Inclusive Community Collaborative
    • Mark Dunham – Patuxent Commons
    • Paula Manion – Our Stomping Ground
    • Brian McCann – Faison Center
    • Stephen E. Morris – FAVARH
  • Nuts and Bolts of Financing; Resident Services Models; Development and Design
    • Scott Copeland – RST Development

8am – 12pm : Breakfast and Advancing Advocacy

The Kelsey Speakers:

  • Fatimah Aure
  • Allie Cannington
  • more speakers to be announced

To access the project description form, please click here.

The Cambria Hotel, Rockville, MD
1 Helen Heneghan Way, Rockville, MD, 20850

Click here for special rate group booking.

Limited financial aid available. First come first serve. Please contact sharonc@mainstreetconnect.org

If the conference is moved to a virtual platform, we will notify you two weeks prior to the event on Tuesday, October 19th, 2021. Registered participants will receive a $221 refund if conference is moved to a virtual platform.

Conference is refundable in full up to October 20th, 2021 for all registered participants.

Housing Development Presentations

Jillian Copeland
Jillian CopelandFounder and Director, Main Street Connect
Jillian was an educator, staff trainer and technology coordinator for Montgomery County Public Schools for several years prior to founding The Diener School in 2007. Jillian’s latest and greatest endeavor, Main Street, is a joint initiative with her husband Scott. Main Street is a model and a mindset, the first of its kind inclusive and affordable apartment building and community center serving people of all abilities.
Sharon Cichy
Sharon CichyChief Strategy Officer, Main Street Connect
Sharon began her career as an educator, had several entrepreneurial experiences as well as consulting for brands large and small. She seeks to build successful and impactful partnerships that propel growth and create innovative experiences and opportunities. Nurturing and expanding donor relationships are all aspects of Sharon’s role at Main Street.

Micaela ConneryCo-Founder, The Kelsey
Micaela co-founded The Kelsey with her cousin Kelsey, who continues to inspire and inform the mission and work today. Micaela has been working on inclusion in communities her entire life. She has seen firsthand the housing crisis facing adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

Fatimah Aure Director of Field and Capacity Building, The Kelsey
With a communications degree from Northwestern University and a Public Policy Masters from UC Berkeley, Fatimah has been senior leadership for several local nonprofit organizations. Cultivating meaningful programs is her sweet spot.

Allie CanningtonManager of Advocacy and Organizing, The Kelsey
Allie leads The Kelsey’s field-building efforts to increase Disabled participation and leadership across housing policy and practice. Allie also spearheads community engagement initiatives for our housing pipeline and convenes and mobilizes people with disabilities and allies to advance disability-forward and equitable housing.

Roundtables on Key Topics by Inclusive Housing Leaders

Donna Budway

Donna BudwayDirector of Programming/Community Outreach, Our Stomping Ground - Inclusive Communities
Donna has served as a community organizer in Arlington for the past two decades and currently manages programming at Our Stomping Ground’s first community, Gilliam Place. She is instrumental in her outreach in sharing the mission and the importance of making community. Her passion is in developing and sustaining inclusive settings and ensuring the well being for adults of all abilities.

Alicia DeLashmuttFounder and President, Our Home, Inclusive Community Collaborative
Alicia is currently working with her team to develop a first-of-its-kind intentional community that includes people at risk—seniors, people with disabilities, and those below median income. Located in the Cathedral Park neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, Our Home – Cathedral Park is designed to be a self-supporting cohousing community and a “Homes, not Housing” model for scalable replication.

Mark DunhamPrincipal, Kindred Strategies
Mark Dunham works with local organizations and stakeholders to catalyze development of supportive housing that leverages the social capital of neighbors of different ages, abilities and incomes. As a consultant to the Howard County Autism Society (HCAS), Mark designed the initial concept planning process for Patuxent Commons and now works closely with its developer, Mission First Housing Group, and an HCAS-led coalition of community stakeholders to advance its development.

Paula Manion

Paula ManionFounder and Chair, Our Stomping Ground - Inclusive Communities
Paula Manion is a strong and passionate leader of the mission to create affordable, inclusive communities and meaningful lives for adults with disabilities. She also serves the community as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Primary Care Mental Health Specialist with a special focus on advocacy and care of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and mental health issues.

Brian McCann

Brian McCannPresident & CEO, Faison Center
Prior to joining the team at The Faison Center, Brian was an attorney who devoted his law practice to civil litigation with an emphasis in education law to help families of children with disabilities. During his legal career, Brian was recognized in Virginia Super Lawyers in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2013 Brian was recognized as a Top 40 Under 40 in the city of Richmond for his work in Special Education Law.

Stephen Morris

Stephen MorrisExecutive Director, Arc of the Farmington Valley
The Arc of the Farmington Valley, Inc. (FAVARH) is a nonprofit organization that provides children’s programs, school transition programs, and adult programs and services for people with intellectual and development disabilities. FAVARH has developed innovative integrated apartments (aka, Specialty Housing) one of which opened in March of 2021 and a second scheduled to open later this year.

Nuts and Bolts of Financing

Scott CopelandPrincipal, RST Development
M. Scott Copeland (Scott) is a principal of RST Development, LLC based in Rockville, Maryland and Virginia Beach, Virginia. RST is a family owned and operated multifamily development, management and construction firm with approximately 8,500 units throughout the mid-Atlantic region. A substantial portion of RST’s portfolio has been financed utilizing Section 42 Low Income Housing Tax Credits, therefore serving moderate to low incomed households, including several projects in Montgomery County. Scott and his wife, Jillian Copeland, co-founded Main Street Connect in 2017.

Platinum Presenting Sponsor

The Building Inclusivity Housing Conference is also made possible in part by the generosity and support of The Disability Opportunity Fund.