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!
Helping animals during war: caring for "furries"
Helping animals during wartime is an inspiring story of Tetiana from Chernihiv, who has 54 rescued and rehabilitated cats living in her home! We speak with Tetiana amidst the persistent meowing of her cat, Soma, who eagerly participates in the conversation. “He craves attention,” Tetiana laughs. “He’s a unique cat with a unique destiny… We saved him about seven years ago. My husband and I were feeding dogs when it was bitterly cold in February. We heard a kitten making not just meows but wheezing sounds and found a tiny weak creature that had frozen to the asphalt… Luckily, there were some office facilities nearby. We rushed there, asked for warm water, and carefully detached him from the asphalt. We fought for Soma’s life for almost a year, but now he is doing well!”
Tetiana Skobeleva from Chernihiv has hundreds of such stories. And it is by no means an exaggeration: she currently shares her ordinary city apartment with 54 (!) cats and a dog. She rescued and rehabilitated all these “little tails” from the streets and continues to take care of them.
Helping animals during war is a daily job.
“A 14-kilogram bag of food lasts us four days, and we go through four bags of litter per month,” says Tetiana. “Every morning starts with cleaning and feeding the cats, then it’s time for my family – my husband and son – and back to ‘cat work’: rescuing, treating, and caring for them. Some people say to me, ‘With the money you’ve spent on cats over the years, you could have bought a car or even an apartment’… I don’t think or calculate in those terms. My arithmetic is different – it’s about how many animals I managed to save. That’s what matters! It’s not a whim or eccentricity; it’s hard, daily work to rescue animals that ended up on the streets due to human indifference and cruelty. All my animals are sterilized, receive proper care, nutrition, and treatment.”
“They come to me neglected, sick, and injured… Helping animals during war is particularly important because they cannot survive without us. Every story of a war animal strikes right at the heart: little two-month-old Lizonka, beaten so brutally that she arrived with a double fracture; Sniezhok, who had to have his tail amputated after being found on the road; Yagidka, a cat slowly dying amidst the ruins of a bombed house in the village of Yagidne… There are so many stories like these… Sometimes people ask me, ‘Why have you collected them all, why don’t you find them homes?’ And I respond, ‘Come to me, see who you would take…’ There are sick kittens, elderly ones, problem cases, and traumatized ones – tailless, eyeless, with renal insufficiency – people aren’t eager to take them…
Their care and treatment are long and painstaking, and I wish people understood that because for some parts of society, the work of animal volunteers remains invisible or ‘off-camera.’
It’s hard work, 24/7, but also inspiring. There’s never a dull moment with my ‘furry companions’!” the woman laughs. “We’ve arranged a lot of things in the apartment for their convenience: shelves with hammocks, wall shelves, but still, someone gets interested in the curtains, someone in the wallpaper, someone has a ‘war’ with the couch… But when they snuggle gratefully and look into your soul, you forget about all the troubles!”
“Love for animals has been with me since childhood,” Mrs. Tetiana shares. “I would feed them, take care of them like a nanny… I got married, my little son was born, and when he grew up a bit, he asked for a kitten. That’s how our first cat, Katusha, came into our lives. She lived with us for a remarkable 23 years – Katusha witnessed almost all the cats we sheltered at our home in the following years. Then there was a newborn kitten that my husband and son found on the street, and another stray showed up. And where there are three, there are four, and then five, six, ten…”
War animals - rescuing 'furry friends' amidst the shelling
Rescuing animals during war is an incredibly distressing and painful topic,” Mrs. Tetiana recounts. “Last year, during active combat operations, the number of my ‘furry charges’ increased even more. Twelve new kittens joined us! Many people left their cats with me when they had to leave. Thankfully, they didn’t abandon them on the streets or leave them at home without food and water… Those were difficult days… Fear paralyzed every fiber of our being, but it wasn’t fear for ourselves because we didn’t have the luxury to worry about ourselves. Amidst the shelling, we ran to the few stores that were still open, searching for cat food. I hardly ate anything myself – I lost 17 kilograms that spring… The kittens learned to anticipate shelling, and half an hour before it started, they became extremely restless – since we didn’t have sirens, they served as our warning system… Meanwhile, my husband and I would go out to feed our ‘furry charges’ on the streets instead of hiding in the basements. Stray animals are especially vulnerable during war. And their numbers increased significantly, so we tried to share what we had with all of them…
By the way, even now, if we have a free moment, we build dog and cat houses together. That’s the vibrant life in my family,” she chuckles. “I don’t often showcase these stories because I do it primarily for my soul; I simply can’t do otherwise. Yes, helping animals during war is challenging, especially nowadays when life has become much harder and more difficult, but I have never regretted doing it. When you see the results of your work – a living and healthy animal – you don’t need anything more!”
