A Host Family is a family that is willing to accommodate a child who lives outside their natural home environment due to lack of familial backbone. The hosting takes place on Fridays and Saturdays, once every two weeks, during holidays and long vacations. The hosting of a child in a host family is predicated upon the agreement of the biological family. This agreement is obtained by the Village's staff from the biological family, before the process of finding the host family and the initial hosting visits.
The importance of the host family is manifested in the warm and loving environment it offers. It's a give and take process, encouraging and supporting environment, and most of all: it provides the child an example and model of a successful family unit and contribution to society.
How to become a host family?
After families take the initiative and turn to the Village with the intent of volunteering to become a host family, a meeting is set up in the Village with the relevant staff. This is a mutual getting-acquainted type meeting where the children daily routine, the Village structure and the Organization special qualities are discussed. In addition, a discussion about the importance and complexity of the hosting process is initiated, and where the consistency and stability, that is, the characteristics that are vital for success, are highlighted.
The family who wants to volunteer introduces itself by describing its structure, its children ages, its familial requirements and other pertinent issues. This meeting enables the finding of an optimal match between the family's needs and the candidate child for this project. After the meeting, the family tours the village to get a sense of the Village's atmosphere that was described earlier.
The tour is conducted with the house mother of one of the Village's family-like quarters. A visit to other Village structures is made as well, including the soccer court, the adolescent clubhouse, the education center, etc.
Based on the initial getting-acquainted meeting, both sides take some time in order to contemplate and reconsider the hosting issue. Then, after mutual agreement between the family and the Village is reached, a visit is scheduled in the family's home. The Village head, the house mother and a social worker conduct the visit, as the Village is responsible that the child that's going to stay with the family finds the environment warm and supportive. The next stage is making the final decision regarding the suitability of the family and the candidate child.
It's noteworthy that once the decision has been made regarding the accommodation, the child is prepared by the social worker and the house mother for the process. This starts the next stage which is most important, since this is the first interaction with the child. The family gets to know the child by spending some time together outside the Village quarters. Gradually, during this stage, when both sides (family and child) feel ready and willing, there comes the moment that everyone has been waiting for, when the child leaves to spend the weekend for the first time.
From then on, the house mother keeps regular touch with the family. The visiting child may communicate with the hosting family at will.
The hosting families are invited to various events in the Village during Holidays, summers, etc. They become an inseparable part of the SOS family. Over the past decade, the special day of the year when we thank them has been SOS Day. It's the Village's Holiday. On this day we recognize the families and their important contribution during the whole year - for they have opened their hearts and souls to help the children they embraced to succeed in their life endeavors.
For all those who want to join this important project, Merav, whose family has hosted children from SOS villages for years, has this message: "As a family we have gotten much more than we have contributed. We are experiencing the development of 'B'. He feels at home with us, our son's friends have become his friends too. Most of all, our home is his home. We highly recommend this act of goodness!"