The search for host families for the Cooperative Association of Scholarship for States (CASS) students is in full swing and there is still an opportunity to participate.

The CASS students come to MHCC from Central America or the Caribbean, spend two years to obtain a degree in Natural Resource Technology, then take the information they gain back to their countries.

Students arrive in the beginning of August and take five weeks of intensive English classes and an orientation. Then in fall term they begin taking math and other various classes.
“They come and study in a field that will help train them to make a positive change,” said David Sussman, the coordinator of the CASS program.

Part of the CASS program is finding host families for the students to live with while they are attending MHCC. Sussman said that most of the families come to the program wanting to help out, and that they don’t have to advertise the program very much.

“The program is very connected with the community,” said Sussman. “CASS students go to the community to develop friendships and networking.”

One of the main criteria when choosing host families is making sure that the families understand the commitment of the experience. Sussman said the students need to have a real sense of being part of the family. They need to go on family vacations, to church and really have that family experience since they are away from their own families for two years.

“The host family is where the idea of real culture exchange is,” Sussman said. “The students, who give all of their culture, get culture back.”

The process of finding host families usually ends in June, due to the training for host families in July, said Nikki Gillis, the Intercultural Program Specialist for CASS.

Families who decide to make the commitment to hosting a student go through a training process in which they study the culture of the student coming to stay with them. Families also receive intercultural communication. Sussman said CASS will teach a host family strategies on how to communicate with the students before they start learning English.
“[Families] are inviting the world into their home. They develop international appreciation, they also appreciate what we have here,” said Sussman.

CASS students generally stay with the same host family for around 10 months and then move into an apartment near the campus with other students, said Gillis.

Each cycle of CASS students is from 17-20 students and the program needs anywhere from nine to 18 host families. Anyone interested in being a host family can contact Nikki Gillis at [email protected].