The Grainger College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

CEE professor reflects on Hope Village, a community engineered to care for its residents through translational research

11/10/2026 Michael O'Boyle

Hope Village showcases the translational research led by Ashlynn Stillwell, associate head and director of undergraduate studies at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to address people struggling with medical fragility, housing insecurity and homelessness. Grainger Engineering partnered with community organizations to build this unique community to promote healing and recovery for survivors of homelessness. Learn More >>

Written by Michael O'Boyle

Hope Village showcases Grainger Engineering translational research addressing chronic homelessness, medical fragility

Hope Village is part of the Champaign County Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless administered by the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission. The community is located near Bradley Avenue in Urbana, Ill. where residents will have easy access to a Carle Mobile Health Clinic and a mobile grocer bus that already serves the area. Residents will not just be provided with a place to stay, but they will also be integrated into the larger community.

Completion of construction was marked with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 20, 2026.

“Just as there is so much more to housing than shelter, there is so much more to health care than physician services,” said civil and environmental engineering professor Ashlynn Stillwell, who led the translational research that went into Hope Village. “Hope Village is engineered to care for the health of its residents in a holistic manner, and it translates the university’s excellent fundamental research into practice with real benefits for real people.”

Read the full story to see the community and learn more about how the project is applying trauma-informed design principles and ongoing  translational research to build a system of housing plus services. Learn More >>

Ashlynn Stillwell at Hope Village in Urbana, Ill.
Photo Credit: Heather Coit / Grainger Engineering
Ashlynn Stillwell, associate head and director of undergraduate studies at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, checking out the progress at the Urbana location on Oct. 28, 2026. Stillwell led the translational research that went into Hope Village, which was built in Urbana, Ill. to address people struggling with housing insecurity and homelessness.

 

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This story was published November 10, 2026.