By Nick Buglione
The problem is that only two weeks before these teens arrive, only 17 families have expressed an interest in welcoming them into their homes ‹ none of them on Long Island.
World Exchange is a nonprofit intercultural program that, for the last 20 years, has brought foreign high-school students, mostly from France, to North American homes for short-term stays. Over the years, however, it has become more and more difficult to find people willing to open their homes to these teenagers, and nearly impossible to find them on Long Island.
³There¹s an overall decline of families in this country willing to host students,² said Michael Sklaar, president of World Exchange. ³Long Island seems to be far worse than other areas.²
Sklaar believes that a number of factors are responsible for the decline, including the fact that both parents work in most of today¹s households. Still, Long Island¹s unwillingness to participate in the program baffles him. ³I don¹t really understand why Long Island is more difficult,² Sklaar said.
Alan and Diana Weinstein don¹t either. For the last 20 years, the East Meadow couple has worked with World Exchange to find Long Island homes for foreign students. They say the search has gotten harder and harder every year. ³It¹s not a lot of work if we have a lot of responses,² said Alan, who has lived with his wife in East Meadow for 29 years. ³The frustration is putting [the word] out and hearing no response. And that¹s what¹s happened on Long Island for years.²
Months in advance of the annual July visit, the Weinsteins post fliers, put notices in newspapers, and notify local churches and community groups in an effort to find willing families. The first year they worked with the program, they secured 10 homes on Long Island. These days they¹re lucky if they find five. Some summers, they don¹t find any at all.
³I think we¹re all trying to do so much more here,² Diana said, trying to explain why Long Islanders have become more reluctant to participate. ³Everybody¹s working.²
³The frustrating thing is, they get amazing results in Westchester and New Jersey, and Long Island doesn¹t, and we don¹t know why,² Alan added.
The higher cost of living here shouldn¹t be a deterrent, since the teenagers brings their own spending money, the couple said. Each teen also has full insurance coverage.
But while families who participate in the program in other regions seem willing to do it again, their counterparts on Long Island don¹t. ³In this area we get no repeat families, and it¹s not that the families didn¹t have an enjoyable time,² said Alan, noting that they survey all families after the visits and the responses are usually positive.
Having hosted 10 foreign teenagers in the past, the Weinsteins say the benefits far outweigh the burden. ³I enjoy meeting the kids,² said Diana, noting that they have developed lasting friendships with the students who have stayed with them. ³It¹s very interesting.²
Any family is eligible to host a student, though it¹s preferable that a child approximately the same age as the visiting student live in the house. The students are usually 15 to 18, and stay for about three weeks. The Weinsteins conduct a preliminary interview with a family before it is allowed to take in a student.
³During the stay, we suggest that the families do what they normally do,² Diana said. Though host families are not expected to wine and dine their guests, a few fun trips or activities are encouraged.
While the students are here, World Exchange offers support to the families 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It also organizes an overnight trip to Manhattan and a farewell gathering for the students and their hosts.
Those interested in hosting a student can call Diana or Al Weinstein at (516) 338-4553. For more information about World Exchange, visit www.worldexchange.org.
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
