AFS Maine: Hosting

Thanks for your interest in hosting an AFS exchange student. Each year,
more than 2,700 American families provide wonderful, unique experiences
for outstanding students from more than 50 countries. What they find is that
the host family members often receive as much or more than they give.

Families with children will see their children change and grow, as several
recent host families have shared:

"I think our children accept cultural differences and understand that there is
no one 'right way' to do something."

"We anticipated that our son (then 12) would experience the 'give and take'
of a sibling relationship. Gio and Chris became very close."

" I learned to share a lot more than we thought possible. Our student was
from a different religion and we had many very interesting conversations
about how our beliefs were in many ways similar and how they were
different, and we celebrated religious holidays from both. We learned that
families are very similar no matter what your country or culture.”

"How often in life do we have the opportunity to have another
child/brother/sister? AFS is terrific."

Learn More
So help make this experience possible for an AFS exchange student and
for your family. Your family will have a new teenager for a year, and a
sister/brother or child for life! Click here to learn more.

AFS families come in all shapes and sizes!
AFS Host Families can be two-parent households with young children or
teenagers, single parent families, families with adopted children, foster
parents, as well as couples or single people who do not have children.
Students bring their own spending money and medical coverage while host
families provide food, a bed (they may share a room with a child of the same
gender), and the same care and support they would give their own children.