I am the author of the Goodacity blog, a journalist, and a translator. For 16 years, I have worked in professional journalism, contributing to regional and national publications, both in print and online media. I have written reports, conducted interviews, reviews, articles on cultural, social, and charitable topics, as well as materials in the style of "solution journalism" and communication materials.
My focus is on creating interesting and exclusive content. Journalism, to me, is primarily about human stories, to which I always find the key, empathize with the people I write about, and love all my heroes. Journalism, to me, means telling people about what truly matters to them, informing and inspiring them. It is not just a job, but a way of life, just like for all those who dream, create, and are inspired by it.
So, if you are looking for stories that inspire and motivate, that instill faith and help find meaning while believing in goodness, read my stories on the Goodacity website.
I am a manager of cultural affairs and a project manager with over 14 years of experience at United Thinkers. I have participated in the organization of numerous successful social and charitable projects and have implemented informational campaigns and communication cases.
As a marketing manager, I have been involved in organizing marketing and sociological research, working with media and partners, developing advertising and marketing strategies, as well as planning and implementing advertising campaigns.
I believe in the power of goodness and I am happy that as part of the Goodacity project, I can contribute to its expansion. I believe in the power of words and in the fact that communication can help make the world a better place. I know how, where and when to speak in order to be heard. And when you are heard, you can change the world!
Olena Shevchenko, from the city of Chernihiv, spent four months living in a bomb shelter, rescuing "little tails"
“Animals are particularly vulnerable during times of war,” our interlocutor says. “They can’t take care of themselves, can’t ask for help; yes, they are voiceless, but if you could see their eyes.”
“I lived in a bomb shelter for four months,” recalls Olena Shevchenko, from the city of Chernihiv, Ukraine, with tears in her eyes. “I left my house in a jacket and boots – and that’s all I had left…
A Russian missile destroyed my home, but I cried not for the apartment, but because I was worried about my little tails: I had 13 cats and a 15-year-old dog named Malyuk.”
Animals during War: Living Warmth Amidst the Ruins
The story of Mrs. Olena is one of love. A love that remains even when everything else is gone…
“Nothing was left of the apartment. Those ruins – they are still there. In Bobrovytsia, Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Shevchenko Street, that’s where my mother and I lived. COVID took my mother. And the war took my home… Nothing was left. No belongings, no photographs to remember. Not even a plate or a spoon… Absolutely nothing. Everything, absolutely everything – there, in the heap of debris.”
On March 15, Russian forces dropped a bomb on the street where the woman lived – and the one-story building where her apartment was, along with neighboring houses, simply “collapsed.”
“The alarm and shelling caught me away from home – I cried, desperate to get back… Not all the cats survived, I couldn’t find my dog, Malyuk, anywhere – I thought he had died too… But three days later, he showed up at a nearby bomb shelter, finding me… I cried all my tears out for him, and he – survived! He was a bit concussed from the explosion, started to hear and see poorly, but still, he found me on his own! I couldn’t keep him with me in the bomb shelter – it was cold, wet, and he was weak after the concussion, unwell… I asked acquaintances to take him in, while I lived in the bomb shelter and visited him every day – we would walk, I fed him, we cried together over our fate, and it made me feel better”.
“The cats didn’t want to stay in the shelter, they ran to the ruins of the house where we lived – it was heart-wrenching to see… I went to feed them every day – they sat, waited for me, even amidst the shelling I ran to them. I feed them, and overhead…”
Olena Mykhailivna spent the most time in the shelter in Bobrovytsia. In March, there were a lot of people there, among them were people like her – those who no longer had a home and nowhere else to go even during the rare moments of silence…
“I remember the constant cold – there was nothing to change into or wear, until it warmed up in May, it was tough,” the woman recalls. “I slept sitting up – lying down, I would simply freeze. Volunteers brought us hot food, and I would divide a portion for eight – for me and all the cats. The pension was small, not enough for feed, and there was no work (I work as a security guard in Slavutych) during those terrible spring months, it was very hard.
In April-May, there were almost no “permanent residents” like me in the bomb shelter… The same people who took in my dog Malyuk, at my request, took in the surviving cats from the street – there were only seven left. And when living in the shelter became unbearable, acquaintances who had evacuated abroad allowed me and the fluffy ones to live in their apartment. Today, me, the cats, and Malyuk have at least a temporary shelter and a roof over our heads – I’m so grateful for that! Last March, they offered me evacuation – either to Western Ukraine or even abroad – but I couldn’t abandon the “little tails” to fend for themselves. They only have me… So, I stayed here with them. Now we are finally together. Even in such difficult circumstances, my animals remain loyal companions, reminding me that there is hope and love. When it seems like I’m at my limit, their gentle touch or purring is enough to set everything right. Together, we’ve gone through the hell of war, and all that’s left is to thank those who weren’t indifferent and gave us a bit of warmth and the will to live.”
Caring for Animals Fills the Soul
“Where does such a concern for our smaller brethren come from, you ask? Well, how could it be otherwise?” the woman smiles.
All thirteen cats that lived with Mrs. Olena were strays, which she took in during the winter when they were small and sick, in the bitter cold. If Olena had walked past them then, they wouldn’t have survived… She rescued them, cared for them, nursed them back to health: all her animals are treated and sterilized.
There was a time when three of her cats fell ill at once, two of them with serious kidney issues. Olena Mykhailivna spent two months’ salaries to treat them!
Working as a security guard, her salary isn’t big – but she had to save the little tails: without treatment, they wouldn’t have survived.
For 12 years now, Mrs. Olena has been feeding street animals both in Slavutych, Ukraine, where she works, and in Chernihiv, Ukraine.
Her home was always full of animals – the woman couldn’t walk past a homeless animal. Together with her mother, she cared and looked after them.
“We lived modestly – just my mother and I, and our “furry brethren.” My mother worked until she was 79 because my modest salary wasn’t enough to make ends meet and still feed and treat all our charges – and there were many. Then my mother broke her hip and was bedridden at home – she took a long time to recover, over a year and a half she couldn’t walk. I would go to Slavutych for a day and a half for work, and she would sit in her chair and ask: daughter, open the window a bit, leave some dry food, street cats will come, I’ll feed them… “
“That’s how she got them used to it: our apartment was on the ground floor, all her street charges knew what was what, they would jump into our place, and my mother fed them. And shortly before the full-scale invasion, my mother got COVID and passed away.
My mother was gone, then the house was gone – I was left alone. But no, not alone – there are those who wait every day for me to come, to feed them, to pet them… Despite all the hardships, I still care for homeless animals: for me, it’s a consolation and a relief. My soul is filled by it… Animals during the war are so defenseless – and who if not us, should help them?”
Earlier, Olena Mykhailivna fed cats near her home on Shevchenko Street, now – near Levka Lukianenko Avenue and on the street of Ukraine’s Defenders.
“I wouldn’t say that I do anything extraordinary – just a little bit, within my power… But I’ll keep doing it, as long as I can – because I care!
Recently, some girl volunteers wrote about me online, then kind people brought me as many as seven pairs of shoes, clothes, food, and even sent me money for cat food: a huge thank you to all the kind people! When you’re supported, helped, not left in trouble – it gives you the strength to keep going!”
