Becoming a BFF Host Family
Becoming a BFF Host Family
Bring the world to
you!
Experience international culture without leaving home by hosting a BFF international exchange student! Host an exchange student for rewarding opportunities to share your culture, and get to know a student from another country.
Host a Student, Change Lives
Hosting is your chance to change the world for the better!
Our purpose at BFF is to promote world peace through cultivating opportunities for cultural and educational exchanges. These exchanges allow people to learn more about each other’s core values. We bring the international traveler and the host family together to create meaningful relationships through which we celebrate our differences and similarities.
When you agree to become a host family, you are helping us propel our vision of a more peaceful world into existence. By opening your heart and home to an exchange visitor, you are creating a connection like none other, a connection that has the potential to change the world. While your student is here, they will gain a new perspective on American culture. Equally important, a new perspective on their culture will be gained by you as the host family and the community at large. This new understanding, gained through the relationships built, is what helps promote peace throughout our world.
Host a Student, Change Lives
Hosting is your chance to change the world for the better!
Our purpose at BFF is to promote world peace through cultivating opportunities for cultural and educational exchanges. These exchanges allow people to learn more about each other’s core values. We bring the international traveler and the host family together to create meaningful relationships through which we celebrate our differences and similarities.
When you agree to become a host family, you are helping us propel our vision of a more peaceful world into existence. By opening your heart and home to an exchange visitor, you are creating a connection like none other, a connection that has the potential to change the world. While your student is here, they will gain a new perspective on American culture. Equally important, a new perspective on their culture will be gained by you as the host family and the community at large. This new understanding, gained through the relationships built, is what helps promote peace throughout our world.
Host families provide our students with three meals a day, a place to sleep and study, some transportation, and loving parenting. Hosting is your chance to help mold future world leaders! Your student’s experience with you is written on the slate of their future. Hosting is also fun! Having an exchange student living with you is a way to always see your own world through fresh eyes. Take an exchange student to the grocery store, and what was once a mundane task of necessity, is now an exploration of the cereal aisle! Find out more about hosting a student by completing inquiry form . Someone on our staff will contact you ASAP to discuss how you can be involved!
Frequently Asked Questions About Hosting
How do I host an exchange student?
- Contact BFF and complete our host family interest form.
- Our staff will contact you to discuss the program and help you start the application process, including background checks.
- Decide if you would like to host for a semester or a school year.
- You will then meet a Community Advisor for a home visit and choose your student.
- We will be with you every step of the way on your new journey!
Do I get paid to host?
No. All our host families are volunteers. The IRS allows for a tax deduction for hosting a student, however. BFF students come with their own spending money for personal expenses, entertainment and other activities and BFF provides them with health insurance. If you can volunteer to provide a place to sleep, a place to study, some transportation (students cannot drive while on program), and 3 meals a day you are set!
What makes a good host family?
All you need is a spare bed, an open mind, and a desire to make a difference in a young person’s life! There is no ideal host family! BFF families come in all shapes and sizes:
- live in larger cities and remote areas
- have young kids, kids who are grown, and no kids at all
- are single persons and large families
- both parents work full time, or one parent stays home
- live in large homes and smaller homes
We encourage families of all types to host. There is a great student out there for every host family. Being committed to the student’s success and remembering that they are still teenagers, even though they have made a very mature decision to live away from everything they have known are key to having a great year!
How does hosting benefit my family?
There are so many benefits, but here are a few:
- Learn about a new culture
- Gain a new family member
- Be able to share the American way of life
Can I host more than one exchange student?
Absolutely! You can host up to two students, as long as they aren’t from the same country or speak the same language.
What can we expect from our student?
BFF students come from many different parts of the world. We often have over 20 countries represented in our student body. All BFF students speak English and have been screened through both testing and interview procedures. Students are also screened for maturity and program readiness. Our students are coming to the USA to learn about our culture and share their own. They hope to further perfect their use of English and create enduring ties with Americans. You should expect your student to be with you for the time frame in which they are scheduled to be in the USA. This means holidays, weekends, etc. The students do not travel back and forth between countries. They remain in the US during their allotted time and their natural families are permitted to visit at the end of their stay. You can also expect your student to be respectful and follow rules at home, school, and in the community. We take will help you enforce rules as is needed and hold the students to a high level of expectation.
What if there is an emergency?
You will have contact information for your community advisor and regional director who will be your first and second point of contact. BFF also has a 24-hour emergency hotline to call if your student is having a true emergency and the staff are not able to respond at the moment. This hotline will connect you to BFF staff who will walk you through any necessary steps.
For any issue that comes up that is not an emergency, your assigned community advisor will work with you and the BFF student support team to create solutions and monitor the progress of those solutions.
Why should I host with BFF?
BFF staff has a combined 30+ years in the field of international education. We approach our role in your journey as important to the success of your experience. We are involved in the lives of our students and host families because we believe that it is easier to effect change when relationships exist. We take the supervision of our students seriously and want the best for all participants.