Welcoming someone from another country to your community is a great gift. By staying in your home, sharing meals with your family, speaking your language, and participating in your daily activities, that someone will learn far more about your way of life than ever would be possible by reading a book or traveling as a tourist. In return, you will learn something about your visitor’s culture, and perhaps your own as well.

Since 1961, Lions Clubs International’s Youth Exchange Program has given tens of thousands of young people representing some 80 nationalities an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of their roles as world citizens. We are confident your hosting experience, like that of thousands of other Lions host families around the world, will be enjoyable, rewarding, and memorable.

The Massachusetts Lions Youth Camp accepts visitors between the ages of 16 and 19.

Requirements

To qualify as a Host Family you must:

• Complete a Criminal Offender Registry Inquiry (CORI) form in accordance with Massachusetts State Law. This is a requirement for all adults who interact with minors.
• Complete a Host Family application form.
• Have a desire to host an exchange visitor in your home for one or two weeks or something in between.

You do NOT:

• Have to be a member of a Lions Club to host an exchange.
• Have to speak a foreign language.  All exchange students speak English, though they made need help to understand our regional idioms such as “Wicked!” and “Where can I find the nearest bubbler?”
• Have to have a young person of approximately the same age as the exchange visitor living in your home, though this is desirable as it will greatly enhance the hosting experience.  Many host families take two or more students when there is not someone already in the household of the same age as are the visitors.