Exchange Program Seeks Host Families, Volunteers in Troy

Sharing daily life with a teenager from another country and culture is a rich and rewarding experience, and it's a wonderful way to bring more understanding into the world.

If you've ever thought about welcoming an exchange student into your home and family, now's the time to learn more. Youth For Understanding (YFU USA), the leading international high school student exchange program, needs families in your community to host high school students for an academic year or six months. YFU USA students arrive in August 2012. Over 80 YFU boys and girls made their home this year in Oakland County families, including three students at .

All kinds of families can host — two-parent households with young children or teenagers, single-parent families, families with adopted children, foster parents, as well as couples and single people who do not have children or who have grown children. One of the most important characteristics of a host family is being eager and excited to share your life and activities while providing the same kind of care, support, and comfort as you would to your own child or family members.

Call your local Field Director for more information to see if this might be right for you and your family. Contact Barb Kilkka at 248-932-0811 or via e-mail at kilkka@yfu.org. You can request profiles of students with interests similar to your own.

Or please visit Youth For Understanding USA’s website at yfuusa.org where families and volunteers can learn more about YFU USA programs and fill out an on-line application.

American students will also find information there about how they can become a YFU USA exchange student for a summer, semester, or school year. YFU offers more than 100 programs to over 40 countries, including a 13th Year Abroad program for recently graduated high school students. YFU USA awards more than 300 scholarships each year.

In addition to host families, YFU USA needs adults who are interested in becoming volunteer liaisons to work locally with families and their hosted students.

Source: YFU USA