Meet Our Staff

My husband and I became involved with EF Foundation in 1982, when a friend at church asked if we knew of anyone who might be interesting in hosting a student? I said we were!

One of the boys we hosted from the Netherlands was a wonderful young man and became part of our family immediately. He was like the big brother to our son, who was an only child. When he went home it was very sad, but we went over to visit him a few times. When he turned 30, he called us and told us he was getting married. He wanted his American family to come for the wedding. That was so touching. At the wedding, there was his biological mom and dad, and then his American mom, dad and host brother. It was so overwhelmingly wonderful; very special.

I tell the students to be very open minded. Everyone in the US has come from somewhere else, unless of course you’re Native American. My ancestry is Swedish and German. We were all kind of like pioneers, and I think the students need to be that way too. They should get a lay of the land, take in their surroundings, and see how people interact. Americans are very friendly, they’re very open, they’re very loving, and they want to share their country with someone from another land.

This might sound corny, but I really feel like I’m doing my little part for world peace. I’ve dealt with over 1300 students in 24 years. I have a wonderful team of local coordinators. They find host families who are committed, who give of their hearts, homes and families, and who are into exchange for all the right reasons. Which is great, because inviting a young person to live with a real American family is a really important thing to do in this day in age.

Everybody is the same—everybody has the same emotions, and expectations for life and for family—we all just speak a different language. That’s what’s cool about this. That’s why I’ve stayed with it for 24 years.