Set one more plate.
Host a foreign exchange student in Michigan.
The world is coming to dinner. Every August, high school students from forty-plus countries land in America with two suitcases and a year to live it. The ones headed for Michigan need one thing first: a family willing to say there's room for you here.
Somebody's grandmother's recipe, in your kitchen
Forget the textbook version of cultural exchange. It looks like this: a sixteen-year-old from Stuttgart frying spätzle at your stove on a Tuesday, explaining why the mustard matters. A kid from Bangkok quietly fixing your pad thai. You, learning that dinner in Spain starts at nine and nobody's in a hurry.
Food is the first language every exchange student speaks. Your table becomes the classroom, and everybody passes. Curious whose recipes could end up in your kitchen? Explore the cultures ISE students bring.
"What feels ordinary to us becomes the story they tell forever." — and it goes both ways.
Your town, seen for the first time
The first snowfall. A Friday night under stadium lights. The absurd abundance of an American grocery store. Things you stopped noticing twenty years ago become extraordinary again when someone experiences them from your passenger seat.
And in return you get their world — how school works in Seoul, what family means in São Paulo, why a holiday you'd never heard of is worth cooking for three days. From the U.P. to Metro Detroit, hosting in Michigan turns your everyday into someone's once-in-a-lifetime.
Pen pals for life. Except family.
The year ends. The bond doesn't. Host families end up with standing invitations in Madrid and Hanoi, a video call on every birthday, a familiar face waving from the crowd at a wedding on the other side of the world.
Ask any longtime host family about "their kids" and watch them pull out their phone. That's what you're actually signing up for.
Why Families HostNot ready for a full year? Be a Welcome Family.
Open your home for just 4–6 weeks — a warm place for a newly arrived student to start school and settle in while their permanent family is found. Sometimes a few weeks of kindness is exactly what a student needs.
From hello to home in four steps
No mystery, no paperwork avalanche. A careful, human process built over forty years.
Talk it through
A free, zero-pressure video chat. Ask anything — singles, empty nesters, and busy families all host.
Get screened
Application, background checks, and a friendly in-home visit. It protects everyone — including you.
Choose your student
Browse real profiles and pick the kid who fits your family — by interests, language, country, personality.
Live the year
Local support all year, monthly check-ins, and a 24/7 hotline behind you the entire time.
They're already packing
Real students, matched by Lisa here in Michigan. Read who they are, what they love, and request a conversation about any of them.
Let's talk money, honestly
You provide
A bed (sharing a room with a same-gender teen is fine), meals, rides to school, and a genuine seat at the family table. That's the whole list.
They bring
Their own medical insurance, their own spending money, school-ready English, and a serious desire to belong. You never cover their expenses.
The fine print
Hosting is volunteer — nobody's paying you, and nobody's billing you. Families may qualify for a modest monthly charitable tax deduction; ask your tax preparer.
Lucas, leaving Brazil with everything he has
Watch a kid say goodbye to everything familiar — his city, his food, his people — to bet a year of his life on a family he hasn't met yet. Somewhere in Michigan there's a front door that will become his.
This is what the other side of your "yes" looks like.
Talk With Lisa About HostingFrom the Great Lakes group
The things everyone asks first
Do we get to choose our student?
Yes. You browse real profiles and choose the student who fits your family — no one is ever assigned to you. Lisa helps you match on interests, language, and personality.
What if it isn't a good fit?
You're never stuck. A local representative supports you all year, and if a placement truly isn't working, there's a structured rematch process. It protects the student and your family alike.
We're empty nesters / single / busy. Can we host?
Yes, yes, and yes. Students thrive in every shape of household. What matters is a bed, meals, transportation to school, and genuine care.
What does hosting cost?
Students arrive fully insured with their own spending money. You cover the ordinary costs of one more person at the table — and may qualify for a monthly charitable tax deduction.
Twenty minutes. No pressure. Just a conversation.
Every host family's story starts the same way — with questions. Bring all of them.