Building Hope: CEL Team Presents Designs for Homeless Philadelphians 

Two CEL students are one step closer to playing a part in building “a small community of security, hope, and healing” for homeless Philadelphians. Hope Kelly '25 and Lida Goloveyko '25, founders of Power Through It and winners of this year’s CEL Sand’s Mindset Award, are designing tiny homes in partnership with Sanctuary Village. The duo recently presented their designs and scale model to the organization’s leadership team. 
“They showed imagination in the work they did, but also we were moved by their interest in what is going on regarding homelessness, and their wanting to help create a solution,” said Cathy Farrell, founder and board president of Sanctuary Village.

“We were very excited to be working with these energetic, creative, and smart young women who have great ideas for how to promote the project. (Hope and Lida) have shown that anyone, no matter how young they are, can use their skills and passion to help alleviate homelessness.”

The Power Through It team designed self-sufficient and eco-friendly tiny homes for the new, 55-plus community in Philadelphia, and the digital model and architectural scale model they produced for Sanctuary Village will be used for fundraising as well as designing and articulating the interior furnishings, said faculty advisor Juliet Fajardo.

“The fact that you can remove the (model’s) roof and move the furniture around will allow us to have residents show how they want their tiny house set up just before they move in, which is great. It will really let our residents know they have some choice and say in how the place where they will live is set up,” said Farrell.

Hear from the Power Through It team, and see the model and designs in more detail here.