Exchange students interested in host who have horses. Click here for PDF info.
Hosting isn’t as intimidating as people think. Here is a quick overview about hosting with YFU.
Our program runs from August until June, so that is when students arrive & depart. Host families can be married couples with or without children or single parent homes with or without children. As I said, having teenagers in the home is not required; many of our students truly enjoy having either older or younger siblings, or being the “only child” and not having to share mom and/or dad’s attention.
Many people think hosting entails more expenses to the family than it does. Besides a family atmosphere, here is an overview of what families are required to provide:
- A bed for the student. Our students can share a bedroom with a same sex sibling, but must have their own bed.
- Three meals a day. Families do not have to cook every meal for the student, but must provide food that the student can prepare themselves, and the family is responsible for either paying for school lunches, or providing food for packed lunches (whatever their own children do if there are other children in the home).
- Transportation to activities and events. Our students are not permitted to drive or operate any motorized vehicles due to insurance policies, but they can walk or ride bicycles when possible.
- Transportation & participation in 3 mandatory orientations/trainings for both the student & the host family. Although they are mandated, they are also fun for the students and families to get together and talk about how the year is going.
Students bring their own spending money for clothes, school fees, and outings with friends. They have their own insurance through the program and are responsible for paying any up-front medical bills (doctor’s visits, sports physicals, etc) All YFU students have multiple years of English training prior to arriving. YFU’s English scoring is higher than other programs, so our students typically speak better English then other exchange students from the start.
YFU works with each family to find a great student to join them. We will discuss your family’s interests, activities, religion attendance, animals, and so on. You can learn even more about the program at our organization’s website of www.yfu-usa.org.
Jamie Withem
Field Director, Northern Ohio
Northeast District
Youth For Understanding USA
Telephone: 800.872.0200 x215
Toll Free: 1.866.493.8872
Fax: 567.855.5196
Website: www.yfu-usa.org
Youth For Understanding (YFU) prepares young people for their responsibilities and opportunities in a changing, interdependent world.
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