Right after my 4th baby was born, I was struggling. I was simultaneously trying to home educate my older children, while at the same time care for my sweet babies. Added to that was a husband who was gone 12 weeks of the year working long hours on the farm. I reached a point where I knew something had to change for both my sanity, and our family's balance.
I happened to be at the library one day with my kids when I met a new friend. This friend had a hobby farm in the next town over, and she talked about hosting people all over the world through a website called Help Exchange.
She mentioned that anyone could sign up to be a "host" if they needed help around their home. The host would make a listing detailing the kinds of help they needed, and then put it up on the website. The responsibility of the host was to provide a room and meals for the helper.
And simultaneously, people from around the world could sign up as "helpers". Helpers committed to working 4-5 hours a day in whatever capacity you had for them.
You could search the website and reach out to people who you thought would be a good fit for what you needed! It was a mutual agreement!
I immediately went home that day and made a profile (that's how desperate I was haha).
A few weeks later, a gal from Belgium named Audrey contacted us. She was working in Canada, and wanted to come down and stay with us in California. She came for 2 months, and to say it was the most incredible experience was an understatement.
AUDREY WAS AMAZING!!! She literally became an instant part of our family, and brought so much life and love and laughter to our home. She loved our children, baked and cooked delicious meals from Belgium for us, helped in our garden, folded laundry, etc etc etc!! Having her stay with us was a dream come true. She became a soul sister to me, and she became a big sister to our children.
Since then we've hosted another sweet Help Exchange "helper" named Yona from France. She was also an incredible gift to our family, and blessed us tremendously in a very hard season.
I've also passed this info on to friends and family who have also used the platform! My friend Kristen who has 4 children and lives Georgia has used it multiple time with great success.
I know this option is not for everyone, but it has been really lovely situation for us. We like it because there is not money involved (which helps financially), but also, our family gets an incredible cultural experience. We get to introduce someone to American culture, while at the same time learning about their culture.
Most of these exchanges are short term, so it makes it easy to try out!
Would you do this? What question do you have? I hope this was helpful for you:)
Check Help Exchange out HERE!
Tomorrow I'll be sharing all about having an au pair in our home, stay tuned:)
