Help keep the beauty of exchange, alive!

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Earn the Presidential Volunteer Service Award by hosting a foreign exchange student! You can earn up to 25 hours per week. This looks great on college applications and job resumes.

ETC works with the U.S. Department of State to find homes for foreign exchange students coming to the USA on a J-1 visa. We have students arriving from 15 different countries, ages 14-18, who are looking for an American family to share this once in a lifetime experience with.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted intercultural learning for more than half of our international students. We are doing our best to navigate through these uncertain times. Our students and host families are our top priority and we are following along closely with the recommendations issued by CDC, USDOS, federal, state, and local guidelines. This pandemic continues to create new challenges for students, schools, communities, and our organization. We are committed to upholding our promise to promote international goodwill and cultural exchange during and after COVID-19. We are moving ahead with planning the future of our students in August 2020.

What does being a host family entail?

• Ensure a safe and nurturing home environment for the student
• Provide students with a room (can be shared with a similar aged host sibling) & his/her own bed
• 3 meals per day

• Transportation to and from school and for extracurricular activities
• Give love and support to the student
• Families with or without children are accepted

What are the students like?

• Bring their own spending money and health insurance

• Have good English skills
• Are highly screened for the program
• Excited to meet their American family!

Why should we become a host family?

• Learn a new culture by tasting new foods, listening to new music, and speaking a new language

• Share your culture with an exchange student
• Add another member to your family
• Help an exchange student get an American education and the experience of a lifetime!

Still not convinced? See what The Rogers Family (former host family) has to say about their experience:

"Our exchange student has been such a blessing in our lives. We had no idea we were missing anything until she came into our lives. Having a host daughter has made us laugh harder than we ever have before. It’s been so special to see my kids love her, bond with her, and my daughter’s closest confident in a time of her life. She has become not just a daughter to me, but my friend."