Host Families

Hosting a Youth Exchange student from another country can be both a challenge and an opportunity. Involvement with an exchange student challenges a host family to become familiar with another culture, while providing the opportunity to share a student's hopes and ambitions. These challenges and opportunities promise to enrich the lives of every member of your family and perhaps the start of a life long relationship. Because Rotary exchanges with more countries than any other exchange organization, you could have a student from one of 163 countries living in your home. Not only will you provide an unforgettable service to a student from abroad, but you also will educate your family about the world around them.

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Host Family Responsibilities

As a Rotary Youth Exchange Host Family, it is your responsibility to provide room and board for your exchange student. You are also expected to exercise general parental supervision over the student just as you would your own children, and involve him or her in daily household life, such as chores and activities.

However, most host families’ involvement with their student doesn’t stop at room and board. The families often share their native background while also learning about their visitor’s culture. This doesn’t mean planning elaborate entertainment but rather making the student a part of your family, giving him or her the opportunity to share in the same aspects of your family life that most teenage students experience in your culture.

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Other suggested host family responsibilities may include:

  • Meeting your exchange student at the airport on arrival in your country and making the student feel at home as part of the family

  • Helping the student master the language and assist with school work

  • Involving the student in obligations similar to those established for your own family members

  • Helping the student meet Rotary obligations which usually include attending Rotary functions, including club and/or district meetings

  • Encouraging and helping the student to meet other young people

  • Providing a safe environment for the student and ensuring the student’s safety

  • Being tolerant of differences and willing to change your own ideas

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Rotary’s Role in Supporting Host Families

Your local Rotary Club will support you during this journey in many ways. The Youth Exchange Officer (YEO) of your local Rotary Club will come to meet with your family and answer any questions prior to your completing the application. In addition, they will conduct and in-depth host family training session, during which you will learn more about the all important aspects of this program.

Once the student arrives at your home, your YEO and club counselor will be available to you to support you if issues arise. Your YEO and counselor will keep in touch with you, at least once a month, during the entire exchange and are available to you 24/7 via email or phone.

Within thirty days of the student’s arrival in your home, the Rotary club will send a second person to ensure all is well in the home.

Applying to be a Host Family

If you are interested in being a host family, please start by filling out this online form: