In the Odesa region, Ukraine's First Lady, along with the Olena Zelenska Foundation team, opened a shelter that the Foundation fully restored and equipped. The facility can accommodate nearly 500 children.
This is the first shelter the Foundation opened on the premises of a kindergarten. It includes dedicated zones for learning and leisure, as well as a separate room with beds. Nearby, a hub lyceum is located, and its students will also have access to this inclusive shelter.
On the first day of school after the holidays in the renovated shelter, the Foundation organized a career guidance workshop for 9-11 graders, having financed the training from the Dobrodiiv Club charitable foundation. During the Decode Your Success Code workshop, teenagers revealed their creative potential and chose their future profession.
“Despite the war and the constant need to seek shelter from missile attacks, our children continue to dream, discover themselves, and actively seek ways for self-fulfillment. This is incredibly inspiring, instills hope, and confirms the strength of our resilience,” noted the First Lady.
This year, the Foundation plans to scale the shelter restoration project. Soon, two more facilities will open in the Odesa region, with an additional five in the Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Work will also begin on equipping the shelters for which the Government of the Åland Islands has allocated EUR 3 million.
Additionally, the First Lady and the Foundation team visited the new branch of the School of Superheroes, which is now fully operational in the Odesa Regional Children's Clinical Hospital. The creation of this branch was fully funded by the Olena Zelenska Foundation.
At the First Lady’s invitation, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, who is on his sixth visit to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, also toured the educational space. The First Lady shared insights into how the School of Superheroes centers operate and why they are so crucial.
“During the war, we have grown from 5 educational centers to 17 fully-fledged spaces equipped to the highest standards, with a preschool department and a practical psychologist's office. This has been a tremendous effort by the team, partners, and friends of the School of Superheroes. We are grateful to the First Lady and the Foundation for sharing our values and understanding the importance of education for young hospital patients,” said Natalia Zhilinska, Acting Director of the School of Superheroes.
The School of Superheroes includes separate classrooms for preschoolers, younger students, and high schoolers, a dedicated methodologist, and a team of teachers covering more than 10 subjects. Additionally, there is a child psychologist's office where young patients can receive essential support.
The donor for the Odesa School of Superheroes is the Foundation's partner, Good Steward Inc. FEBC-Korea, a South Korean charity.
“The Odesa School of Superheroes is one of six schools the Foundation funded in 2024. We plan to continue scaling this project. In 2025, we aim to open at least six more such educational centers in other cities,” said Nina Horbachova, Director of the Olena Zelenska Foundation.
This year, new School of Superheroes centers will open in Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Lutsk, Chernivtsi, Ternopil, and Mukachevo. The Foundation also plans to restore the center at Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital.
Furthermore, the Foundation team and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees visited a family from the Kherson region – one of three that received new homes under the subvention program for purchasing housing for large foster families that lost their home because of the Russian aggression.
This family was also provided with essential household appliances by the Foundation and the UNHCR.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to visit this family with the First Lady and her Foundation to see firsthand how we are providing support to displaced large foster families and truly improving their lives and the lives of the children they care for. This is a testament to our shared commitment to supporting displaced and war-affected families, providing them with the necessary assistance, and helping them recover during this devastating war,” said Filippo Grandi.
Similar aid from the UNHCR, a partner of the Foundation, has already reached large foster families in the Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Ternopil, and other regions. This includes families who received homes through state subvention, as well as those supported by the Foundation within its projects.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the Foundation has provided humanitarian aid to every second large foster family in Ukraine.
This year, the Foundation will also continue implementing the "Room for Childhood" project. Fifteen large foster families have already received new homes, and plans are underway to build at least 10 more.