Host a student—change lives

Do something life-changing this summer. If you live in the Twin Cities Metro area and would be willing to open your home to a Ukrainian student, please apply below.

“I went to Ukraine withYouLEAD in 2016, and it completely changed my life. I wanted to continue providing those same opportunities for youth today who, like me, just want to help change the world and find themselves.” 

Grace - YouLEAD Mentor & Host

Why become a host?

Becoming a YouLEAD host family is a truly unique and transformative experience. Enjoy learning directly about Ukraine and build life-long global friendships with the participants, mentors, and other volunteers. Understand more about the country’s rich culture as well as how current events are shaping its people.

If you have children of a similar age to our Ukrainian students, they are invited to participate in all of our tailored leadership trainings, workshops, meetings and experiences alongside their Ukrainian peers—free of charge. Not only is this an unparalleled learning experience, but it also offers an opportunity for deeper cultural exchange and bonding. It’s like studying abroad without having to actually travel abroad!

FAQs

What are the 2025 program dates?

Program Dates: August 9 – September 14, 2025.

Do I have to host for the whole 5 weeks?

Ideally, yes, however we are usually able to accommodate partial program hosting if you are only able to act as a host family for a period of the program. Please indicate on the application form any time periods where you are not able to host, or times when you are available to be a “back-up” host for other families.

Can I host more than one student?

Absolutely! Please indicate on the application form how many YouLEAD students you are able to host. This year, we will be bringing 15 youth (ages 16-17) from Ukraine for YouLEAD 2025.

Do the students speak English?

The students speak Ukrainian or Russian (or both) and, at least, working English. They will have a variety of levels of speaking and understanding English, however they want to learn more!! Please be patient, talk slowly, and consider rephrasing a sentence and using the GOOGLE TRANSLATE APP on your phone will be helpful.

How do I apply to become a host?

Please complete the online application form as soon as possible. We will keep the application form open for as long as we have hosting opportunities.

Completing the application form does not automatically commit you to hosting. Someone from our team will reach out with more information to discuss your application, explain next steps, and share more about expectations for host families.

What is the schedule?

The students will attend a rigorous training program that begins around 8 am and ends around 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Every effort will be made to confirm program details in advance of the start of the four weeks, so it is easier for host families to schedule transportation, along with the many other things a family needs to schedule.

There will be some evening events during the week. We will try to limit them to 1-2 evenings per week. There will be some weekend events, usually these will be special events, such as Valley Fair, a trip to Mall of America, and Host Family Events.

An online document will be available to all host families, so you know the schedule, drop off times and places, pick up times and places, events families are invited to attend, and optional events.

Additional Resources

It takes a community to make YouLEAD a reality. We are deeply grateful to all past host families, volunteers, mentors, and chaperones. We have learned a lot from previous years and from hearing from host families about what worked best and what could be improved. We believe 2025 will be the BEST YouLEAD ever. To prepare you for hosting, please review the attached additional information.

Apply to Host