Host Family FAQs

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We hope to see you in the summer.  

*Note that this form may not be open if hosting slots are already filled or a deadline has passed for an upcoming American Exchange Project season.

American Exchange Project is a two-week adventure for high school seniors that takes place in the summer after graduation. Both weeks of the program are fully funded thanks to generous donations from foundations like the Hearthland Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York, as well as hundreds of individual donors. 

During Travel Week, students will spend time in an American community completely different from their own (think: a born-and-bred New Yorker camping in the dense forests of Oregon; a student who grew up on their family farm in Minnesota walking the National Mall in D.C. for the first time). During Hometown Week, students will show off the best parts of their town to peers from across America. 

From tangy barbecue in Texas to fresh-caught lobster in Massachusetts; eye-popping Alaskan glaciers to Kansas’s great golden plains; L.A.’s glittering coastline to Montana’s sprawling ranch country, an American Exchange Project adventure will change the way students see their country, their neighbors, and themselves.

Students embark on a two-week adventure: One Travel Week away in another state, and one Hometown Week welcoming visiting students to their town. As a host family, you’ll be involved in Hometown Week, when you’ll welcome a visiting student into your home.

Each participating American Exchange Project community has a local Exchange Manager. Our Exchange Managers are most often an educator or administrator from a local high school who facilitates the adventure for students and serves as a point of contact for other members of the community (like you).

The Exchange Manager is responsible for guiding home students and visiting students through your Hometown Week. If we’re in your town already, you can find your local Exchange Manager on our interactive map. 

If we’re not in your town and you want to help bring American Exchange Project to your community, email us or fill out this form. 

Exchanges happens over multiple sessions during the summer starting in mid-June and running through the end of July. Please reach out to your local Exchange Manager via our interactive map to learn the dates of your Hometown Week. 

Your role as a host for one or more of our students is an essential part of a student’s American Exchange Project adventure. For many of our participants, their Travel Week is the first time they’ll venture so far away from home on their own—it might even be the first time they leave their state. Your family will be one of our students’ first points of connection and a source of comfort and support throughout the week.

On a practical level, host family primary contacts must be at least 25 years old, and anyone in the household who is 19 and older must pass a third-party state and federal background check (paid for by American Exchange Project). 

Host families must be able to provide a safe, secure, and suitably private place for students to sleep for eight days and seven nights; serve two meals a day (usually breakfast and dinner); and assist with student transportation needs throughout the week. All host families will receive a stipend to help offset the cost of meals and transportation while hosting a student or students. Sign up now or contact your local Exchange Manager via our interactive map for more information.

We encourage families with participating students to host a traveler or travelers if they’re able, but it’s not required for you to host in order for your student to participate.

By hosting, you can:

• Learn about life in another part of America from your traveler(s)—and, in turn, share what you love most about your town 

• Lay the groundwork for a lifelong bond. Host families and their students have kept in touch over text, sent each other care packages, exchanged cards at holidays, and even reunited on trips 

• Grow closer to your neighbors and form friendships with others connected to American Exchange Project in your hometown

• Help us create a more connected America by giving young adults the chance to reach across lines of difference

“Our boys absolutely loved having a cool big brother with them. [Our host student] was able to celebrate birthdays and holidays with our family, and he was just so eager and welcoming and enthusiastic throughout the entire experience.” —Kaitlyn (host mom, Delaware)

The host family sign-up form asks for information about your home and members of your household as well as the suitably private accommodations you can provide for traveling students.

If you are selected as a host family, anyone in the household who is 19 or older must pass a third-party state and federal background check (paid for by American Exchange Project). In the spring, your local Exchange Manager may hold a host family meeting, during which you’ll find out more about the Hometown Week itinerary, host family responsibilities, and have a chance to ask any questions. Please contact your Exchange Manager for more details. 

No. American Exchange Project requires that a responsible adult is in the home between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. (when the student you are hosting is not at an exchange activity). Your support is needed most at the beginning and end of each day, before the exchange group departs for the day’s activities and after they return.

You'll host during your community's Hometown Week, an eight-day session between early June and late July, typically from a Wednesday to the following Wednesday. Your local Exchange Manager will be able to provide you with your community’s Hometown Week dates.

As long as every student you host has a suitably private and safe sleeping space, you can host as many students as you’d like. Most American Exchange Project host families host between one and three students.

Your local Exchange Manager is your point of contact for the student/host family pairing process and is the best person to reach out to with specific questions (you can find their contact info on our interactive map). Placements are made based on the information and preferences provided by each student in their sign-up form and each host family in their sign-up form. 

Traveling students are allowed to share rooms with another student of the same biological sex who is no more than two years older or two years younger than them. Sharing beds is not allowed.

Yes. Host families will receive a stipend to help offset the cost of meals and transportation. Contact your local Exchange Manager via our interactive map for more information.

Yes. In the spring, shortly after students find out where they are traveling, your local Exchange Manager will set up a Zoom meeting for traveling students and host families to meet each other. You will have the chance to exchange contact information in case you or your student(s) would like to get in touch before your Hometown Week to discuss things like dietary restrictions, allergies, or other accommodations. If you sign up to host, your local Exchange Manager will share the meeting details with you.

Sometimes Exchange Managers plan a host family day in their itineraries, but there’s no need to panic about planning the greatest or most expensive outing. Your students want connection, not perfection. A walk through a local park, a meal at your nearest fast food joint, a round of your family’s favorite board game—these might seem like ordinary activities, but your student might have never experienced anything like them where they’re from. Students have built model planes with their family in Texas, tubed alongside them on the river in Georgia, and played volleyball games with them on the shore in Massachusetts. Again, no special plans required—just bring your visiting student(s) into your family’s world.

Your family may also be invited to participate in some exchange activities, like potlucks or bonfires, with other students and host families, but these are not required. Talk to your local Exchange Manager to see what a host family day or community gatherings might look like during your Hometown Week.

Yes, as long as one responsible adult above the age of 25 is in the home between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. at the same time as any traveling students. Constant supervision is not required of host families during Hometown Week, so many past host families have found it easy to host around their busy schedules. Talk to your local Exchange Manager to learn more about what hosting could look like for you based on your summer plans. 

“It’s not a burden at all [to host] because there’s so many activities that are planned outside of your house that you don’t have to worry about anything.” —Joe (host dad, Massachusetts)

Yes. Our primary concern is that student accommodations are safe and suitably private. If you have questions about the accommodations you are able to provide, please discuss them with your local Exchange Manager or email our team.

The most successful Hometown Weeks make use of in-kind donations—passes to a summer movie festival, coupons for a group dinner at your town's most popular restaurant, etc. If you’re able to facilitate an in-kind donation or know someone who can, give your local Exchange Manager a heads up ASAP to help them better plan their Hometown Week itinerary. 

Your Hometown Week will also have ample opportunities for volunteers to assist with preparing student meals, transportation, and hospitality efforts, like welcome signs. Contact your local Exchange Manager via our interactive map for more information on your Hometown Week’s specific donation needs and other ways to volunteer.