SHARE! High School Exchange Program - Santa Monica, California

Emilee Pini

I was absolutely very unimpressed with Share. The local representative was my friend, but she received no training from the regional representative. There were red flags and we should have backed out. Our student actually lied on her paperwork several times. She came to us from the plane sick and in the first 24 hours I had to figure out insurance and doctors etc all while trying to coordinate with the student’s mother about what the problem was and what she needed. Our student was a recluse and did not want to be in our 6 person family. She was like a spoiled brat who demanded that I take her places on a moment’s notice. It was AWFUL for the first 5 months until she finally decided she would like to try another family. All the while, I was contacting my coordinator who heard nothing from the regional representative on how to work things out or change the situation. We spent so much time, effort and money on our foreign exchange student. The only way we will EVER host again is if we are paid room and board. I’m not dealing with this type of company ever again. What a joke.

Meghan Phillips

We had an awful experience with SHARE! My family has hosted 20+ exchange students over the past 30 years, and this was by far the worst experience we've ever had. From before my student arrived we received very minimal assistance, even when I was having trouble enrolling her into the local high school-they didn't help me, despite the high school telling me that the program should be completing certain things..it was all left up to me. Once my student arrived we were told a coordinator would check in with both of us, that never happened. My student broke her ankle 2 months into her stay, and again the program was less than helpful. The health insurance they claimed she had was AWFUL, nobody would accept it and we had to pay a lot up front because it was all denied. Again we were told a coordinator would help with the situation, but silence. We eventually gave up on ever hearing from a coordinator, and proceeded to just complete the year on our own. Our student was amazing and we loved her, however we actually knew her and her family before she came-so I don't attribute that to the program at all. Once our student returned home we still didn't hear a word from the program. We are still dealing with medical bills that the company promised her parents on their end would be paid, however I'm technically liable so I'm receiving harassing calls from collection agencies because the bills have still not been paid. Overall it was AWFUL, and I wouldn't recommend this program to either a host family or family looking to send a student abroad. It seems like they just take us money and do nothing really to help the student during their year in the states. Thankfully I know other programs are WAY better, so this won't be our last student-but it will definitely be the last through SHARE.

Mark & Kelli LaVoie

We had a great first hosting experience with our student and our coordinator. So much so, that we are now in the process of applying to host again. Our coordinator was communicative and easy to follow up with if we had any questions.

Faith W

My experience was horrific! this was due to an extremely ineffective coordinator - it began with her rushing the process to place a student, to not assisting with issues that came up. Because of her lack of help, she made a tense situation worse. I actually had to call the Dept of the State who is investigating the situation. I believe the experience would have been a lot better if the coordinator acted more engaged and responsibly . I went into the process with an open heart and was completely blindsided by this coordinator. If you have the same heart and want to open it to a foreign student, please ensure that you address any concerns you may have prior to accepting a child - there were a lot of red flags which I unfortunately ignored because I was so anxious to open my heart and home!

Matt Detore

Horrible experience! Don’t let them take advantage of you!!! The students pay 14k to come and stay in your house for FREE! You get nothing and have to provide everything for them. They are very well off and not coming from the environment you would think when “volunteering.” The coordinators do nothing and make $200 a month off of you doing every and paying for almost everything for free.

They also don’t make any effort to correct issues. The coordinators are supposed to be the legal guardian which means they need to sign as a legal guardian and they never actually do that and pass that risk to you.

They will rush you into it so that you can’t think about it or make a decision. We were told we would get to meet them before we decided and instead we found out that her flight was already booked before we ever got to video chat with her and make a decision! They also don’t provide the truth when you ask how the students are selected which has everything to do with money.

Don’t Share with Share.

Kari P

This is my fourth time hosting students from ERDT/Share . This year I am hosting two half year students one is from Germany and one is from Argentina and they are a delight. I definitely recommend hosting. I have also hosted students from Spain, France, and Brazil with ERDT/Share. The coordinators are fun to work with and really care about their students.

Marissa True

We had a great student and an awesome coordinator! We had some language barrier issues. But everything overall went well and we had a great experience in general! We loved hosting and are doing it again ?

Audrey Potrament

The exchange program allowed me to have someone who is like a new sister and a life long friend.