Bring the World Into Your Home
Open your home to new perspectives, lasting friendships, and the unforgettable experience of sharing everyday life with an exchange student.
WHY FAMILIES HOST
More than Opening Your Home
Hosting is about much more than opening your home. It's about welcoming a new perspective, building meaningful relationships across cultures, and watching an exchange student grow into a member of your family. Along the way, your own family grows as well, discovering new traditions, broadening its worldview, and creating friendships that often last a lifetime.
Cultural Exchange at Home
Experience another culture without leaving home while sharing your own traditions, community, and everyday family life.
Meaningful Relationships
Many host families stay connected with students long after the exchange year ends and continue visiting each other for years to come.
A Shared Experience
Hosting can bring new perspectives, traditions, friendships, and culture into everyday family life while creating meaningful connections across cultures.
EVERYDAY LIFE ABROAD
Exchange Becomes Part of Daily Life
Host families welcome students into everyday family life by sharing meals, school activities, holidays, traditions, and the everyday moments that become lasting memories. Students typically live with 2–3 host families throughout the exchange, spending approximately 3–4 months with each family while remaining in the same school district and local community.
WHAT HOST FAMILIES PROVIDE
Host families provide the foundation for a successful exchange by offering a safe and supportive home environment. They provide transportation to school and Rotary activities, a private bedroom or a shared bedroom with one child of the same gender, guidance as students adjust to American life, and the encouragement needed to help them feel at home.
Former host sister reuniting with Olivia, her former exchange sister, in France
WHO CAN HOST?
Could Your Family Be a Great Host Family?
Host families come from many different backgrounds. Whether you’re a Rotarian or not, have children at home, are empty nesters, a married couple, or a single-parent household, you can make a meaningful difference by providing a caring home, an open mind, and a willingness to share everyday life with an exchange student.
HOST FAMILY PROCESS
Preparing Families for a Successful Exchange
Every host family completes a structured application, screening, and training process designed to help ensure a safe, supportive, and successful experience for both students and families.
APPLICATION AND SCREENING
- Complete a host family application.
- Participate in a personal interview and home visit conducted by a trained Rotary volunteer.
- Complete background checks for all household members age 18 and older
Training AND Ongoing Support
- Complete a host family application.
- Participate in a personal interview and home visit conducted by a trained Rotary volunteer.
- Complete background checks for all household members age 18 and older
Understanding the Financial Commitment
Hosting is About Opening Your Home,
not Covering Every Expense
Hosting is about welcoming students into your family's everyday life—not covering all of their expenses. Students receive a monthly allowance from their sponsoring Rotary club, carry comprehensive medical insurance, and are responsible for many of their personal and incidental expenses. Host families provide a caring home, meals, transportation, and the opportunity for students to experience American culture, school, traditions, and community life.
A Trusted Global Program
Every year, around 8,000 students participate in Rotary Youth Exchange programs around the world. For more than 50 years, Rotary has connected students, host families, and communities through life-changing cultural exchanges that create lifelong friendships and global understanding.
HOST FAMILY PERSPECTIVES
Hosting Often Becomes More Than Families Expect
“Hosting Olivia from France gave our family the opportunity to experience cultural exchange in a very personal way. It was amazing to watch her experience American traditions like homecoming, prom, and our holidays with so much excitement, while we also learned about French culture and traditions from her. We enjoyed trying French desserts together and even learned how to make crêpes as a family.
Seeing those everyday cultural exchanges become part of our home made the experience incredibly meaningful for all of us.”
Roxana lannarelli
District 5810 Host Family
“Hosting a student through Rotary Youth Exchange was one of the best experiences our family has ever had. Our French exchange student, Olivia, embraced every opportunity, from exploring grocery stores to attending high school prom with genuine excitement and curiosity. We loved sharing conversations about our cultures and learning about each other’s daily lives. We spent time cooking together, including making traditional French dishes like raclette, and our daughter enjoyed introducing Olivia to family traditions like Easter baskets and Fourth of July fireworks. Four years later, we remain close and recently had the joy of visiting Olivia and her family in France. The experience had such a lasting impact that our daughter was inspired to become a Rotary Youth Exchange student herself.”
Shauna Gray
District 5810 Host Family
