Olena met February 24, 2022 in Kyiv, when she heard explosions. At first, she could not believe that it was war, until a colleague called her and said he saw smoke and blasts. Olena quickly got ready, woke up her son, informed her mother, and went to work — to the preschool. She understood that their premises could become a shelter for people.

On the very first day they arranged the shelter, carrying down mattresses and little beds. By evening, more than 120 people, many of them children, had found a safe place there. The shelter became a temporary home for many. They set up a play area there, trying to create at least some illusion of normal life for the children.