“Shelter is a Startup for a Million Lives”: a presentation of Halyna Yanchenko’s book took place in Kyiv
3 December 2024 18:26
Yesterday, on December 2, Kyiv hosted a presentation of the book “Shelter – a Startup for a Million Lives” by MP Halyna Yanchenko. The book tells the story of how, at the beginning of the war, the Shelter initiative helped more than a million Ukrainians find a temporary home. Kommersant Ukrainian 
attended the presentation.
Galina Yanchenko’s book “Shelter – a startup for a million lives”
During the presentation, Halyna Yanchenko told how the idea to create a service for finding free housing for refugees fleeing the war, leaving their homes and being forced to flee from the occupation forces came about.
“The story of how one initiative, created on the first day of the full-scale invasion, helped more than a million Ukrainians find a temporary home. The book contains stories about people, their tragedies, struggles, and the incredible strength that helped them survive ,” Halyna Yanchenko said about the book.
“The Shelter initiative was based on the idea that some people leave ads saying that they can shelter someone. And those who need housing leave information about this need. This way, people were able to communicate and find each other, the author said.
The event was also attended by some of the book’s protagonists: IT specialist Roman Turchyn, who was able to create the first working website of the future Shelter platform literally overnight, IDPs from Mariupol and Donetsk region, and representatives of the project team, who were able to combine their efforts and knowledge in real time from different parts of the country to create and maintain the project.
Halyna Yanchenko said that she did not plan to write a book until she was literally pushed to take this step by communication with Ukraine’s foreign partners. It was they who emphasized that the story of Ukraine, its people, volunteers and projects like Shelter should be told to the world. That is why an English-language version of the book is also being prepared.
The live broadcast of the presentation can be viewed on Halyna Yanchenko’s Facebook page at the following link.
