What do hosts do?
We offer you and your family the chance to host our International Professionals in Residence (IPRs). IPRs are professional adults from around the world who visit the United States to train in domestic agencies, businesses, and governmental departments. You are welcome to host IPRs for dinners, weekends, weeks, months, or longer. Hosting provides wonderful opportunities to learn about people and cultures from around the world.
Whether you are a single person, a working couple, a family, or a retiree, you can serve as a host. Hosts do not need to speak the IPRs’ native language because most speak English, and many welcome the opportunity to practice their English skills.
Not only do host families help an individual learn about American culture, but they also gain first-hand experience with guests from a different country. Hosts also earn a tax deduction: they are invited to attend our events free-of-charge and may be eligible to receive a monetary stipend.
It is easy to get involved! Just contact our office at [email protected] or (614) -205-2268 or (614) -205-1499 to inform us of your interest. We will then complete an initial assessment and arrange a meeting in your home to get to know you. Upon approval, we ask that you provide the following services to our foreign guests:
Whether you are a single person, a working couple, a family, or a retiree, you can serve as a host. Hosts do not need to speak the IPRs’ native language because most speak English, and many welcome the opportunity to practice their English skills.
Not only do host families help an individual learn about American culture, but they also gain first-hand experience with guests from a different country. Hosts also earn a tax deduction: they are invited to attend our events free-of-charge and may be eligible to receive a monetary stipend.
It is easy to get involved! Just contact our office at [email protected] or (614) -205-2268 or (614) -205-1499 to inform us of your interest. We will then complete an initial assessment and arrange a meeting in your home to get to know you. Upon approval, we ask that you provide the following services to our foreign guests:
- Breakfast and dinner
- A private bedroom (preferably a private bathroom as well)
- Transportation as needed (we can help coordinate this)
Hosting a professional can be an incredibly fun and rewarding experience, and staying with a host family is what makes an international visitor's stay here authentic and memorable!
Take a look at some examples of past host family experiences:
Take a look at some examples of past host family experiences:
Mark and Claire Fohl
Reading Harry Potter with participant
Claire and Mark Fohl, who have hosted CIP participants since 1992, share their experience:
"We have friends all over the world! Since 1992 we have been privileged to host 25 international guests, courtesy of the Columbus International Program. Natalie, from Russia, was our first guest. It wasn’t long after the end of the Soviet Union, and it was so exciting for us to get to know her! Like Claire, Natalie was a librarian, but their experiences in the profession could not have been more different. Since she left we have exchanged letters, then emails, Skype calls, and now we are Facebook friends. Monica was from Chile and such a creative and fun person to know. We are still close friends with her family, which now includes a husband and two children. Several years ago we visited Monica’s mother in Chile, then Carlos, another guest, and his family in Argentina, on our way to Tatiana’s (yes, another guest!) wedding in Brazil. We are still close with all our South American friends! Teimuraz and Tariel from Georgia were with us when the remnants of Hurricane Ike hit central Ohio in September 2008. That morning Tariel had taken pictures of our neighborhood, including a large, beautiful pine tree across the street. Later, as we were leaving to go to the CIP International Buffet, we saw that the pine tree had been uprooted and fallen to the ground! Tariel hurried to take another picture of the tree, shouting “Stop the presses! Stop the presses!” some of the only English he knew! We hope he got his before-and-after pictures in his hometown newspaper! Our guests, now friends, have made a profound difference in our lives and in the lives of our family. One memorable Thanksgiving there were guests from North America, South America, Asia, and Africa seated at our table. We have a large globe at our house, and when our grandchildren visit and meet one of our guests, we find their country on the globe. We have laughed and cried, celebrated and grieved with them. We’ve traveled to visit them, and they have returned to visit us. We’ve learned so much about other cultures, and the friendships we’ve made enrich our lives. Watching the Olympics we cheer along with Susanne and Stefan when Germany wins a medal. With the current unrest in Ukraine, we worry about our friends Oleg and Taras. Are Sylvia and her family safe in Moldova? When the World Trade Center fell, we received emails from so many of our international friends, comforting and supporting us. We are fortunate, and we are blessed, to have so many friends around the world, and we’re looking forward to meeting many more friends in the years to come." Claire Fohl Marian Harris
Sukriye (left) and Marian (right)
"I have traveled to Turkey 5 times and am a great lover of all things Turkish. When the request for host families arrived and one of the participants was a Turkish child psychologist, I immediately volunteered – even redecorated my spare bedroom! And what an incredible experience it has been! Sukriye and I hit it off immediately. We were very comfortable with one another – going our own ways but frequently crossing paths to cook (I cooked Turkish food, she cooked simple healthy foods!), enjoy the outdoors (she inspired me to plant tomatoes), play Bananagrams and talk. She was very focused on her experience here and fortunately I was able to help her with some placements, her English, her getting her driver’s license and dealing with medical insurance among other things.In return I have a lifelong friend who I consider part of my family. Sukriye was with me from December to August. She’s happy to be back home but the experience we both had will be with us forever. I miss her."
Marian Harris |
Mikalene Guiser
As a host, member Mikalene Guiser has exchanged cultures with guests from an amazingly diverse set of countries. After hosting Berit, from Germany, Mikalene traveled to Hamburg to visit and reconnect (below). And during their stay in Columbus, Mikalene introduced Emme, from Cameroon, and Fatima, from Peru, to a local favorite - Jeni’s Ice Cream (above).
Norma Miller
Norma (left) and Anne (right)
"I wanted to share with you a picture of Anne Nestdale Mullen, participant from 1982 who lived with me and Beth Kendall Criswell. I was a participant in Sweden in 1978 and wanted to pay it forward by hosting participants because a family in Sweden opened their home to me. I believe over the years, I have hosted over 25 participants.
Thanks to CIP, even years later, our friendship continues! Thank you CIP." Norma Miller |
