Go Global Without Leaving Your Own Home!

Make this the most memorable year ever by hosting an exchange student! Youth For Understanding (YFU) is in need of Oakland County families like yours to host a high school exchange student this fall!

YFU international high school students speak English, have their own spending money, insurance and are carefully selected based on academics and recommendations. They attend your high school during the day and share traditions, holidays and customs with you, their YFU host family.

YFU is a volunteer-driven non-profit established in 1951 in Southeast Michigan—an organization which now builds bridges of friendship between our 50 states and 70 countries. As June ends, 65 YFU students are parting from their loving Oakland County families and local volunteers.

Who will you set a place for at your supper table this year? Will it be sporty Motoki from Japan, amusement-park-fan Anh from Vietnam, swimmer Mara from Germany, musical theater lead Aung from Thailand, class president Jesper from Germany, or singer/guitar musician Karoline from Denmark? Or one of many more just waiting for that shriek of joy when they hear they’ll spend the year with you?

All different kinds of families host successfully, with and without children at home, from senior citizens to young couples, large families to single persons, all economic and educational levels… You can choose to host for the school year or to be a “welcome family.” Hosting is rewarding and creates lifelong connections. Host families say that the upside rewards can be huge---and worth putting another plate on the table or re-arranging the bedrooms/study/basement or whatever it’s going to take to make it happen. Hosting is real life, not running around to tourist attractions (though some of that may happen). It’s cooking dinner together, raking leaves on Saturday morning, school activities and homework, holiday preparations, some boring, rainy afternoons, the same long days of work, school, chores, family life, worship… but seen through the fresh eyes of someone new, it all takes on a new significance.

Families often rule themselves out because they work demanding hours or have no children at home or maybe have more limited financial resources. But many local families (of all ages, shapes, sizes, backgrounds) host successfully, facing those same realities and many more. It’s common sense parenting for the most part.

YFU is with you every step of the way with orientations, trained and dedicated local volunteers and 24-hour professional support staff. Take the first step and request a list of available students and answers to your questions. Contact Barb Kilkka, leader of the Oakland County volunteer team, at 248-932-0811 or kilkka@yfu.org

Visit www.yfuusa.org/meetstudents and see the students who can’t wait to begin their American adventure – right here with YOU!