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The
Host Family Program of the New York City Commission for the United Nations,
Consular Corps and Protocol has two goals:
1. To help newly
arrived United Nations diplomats, members of the Consular Corps, and members of the United Nations Secretariat and their families settle
quickly into life in New York..
2. To give interested,
qualified New Yorkers an opportunity to share their lives with the City's
international community. This program is a cooperative and voluntary
effort of private citizens.
Host Families
include couples, with or without children, and single people as well.
They are recruited through schools, colleges, clubs, churches, and interested
organizations of all kinds, as well as through existing Host Families,
Commission staff and volunteers.
The Program
works the following way:
- Once an application
has been completed and approved, one or more members of the Host
Family attend an orientation meeting with the Program Coordinator.
At that time, the family learns about the Commission and its programs,
and the Coordinator learns about the family.
- Soon after arrival
their arrival in New York, UN diplomats and members of the Consular
Corps are asked by the Commission volunteers whether or not they
wish to participate in the program. A Host Family is selected whose
interests and background seem to be compatible with those of the
foreign family.
- The Host Family then
invites the foreign family to their home, not to stay, but for dinner,
lunch, tea, brunch, or whatever the host feels is the most comfortable
way to entertain friends.
- This is the beginning
of an ongoing relationship which we hope will continue for the length
of the foreign family's stay in New York. The referral services
of the Commission are available to the Host Family should the foreign
family have any questions or problems that the hosts might find
difficult to answer or solve. Such questions, for example, might
involved medical referrals, legal matters, insurance, housing or
schooling for diplomatic children.
The relationship between host
and international families is flexible. In some cases, families will
want to exchange frequent visits. In others, they might enjoy sharing
professional interests and contacts. In each case, the Host Family Program
offers the international community the chance to get to know the City
and its citizens in a relaxed, informal family setting. It offers New
Yorkers the rewards of new insights and friendships with a varied international
community.
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