Meet Jae Hopkins of Homestay Services International

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jae Hopkins.

Jae, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Homestay Services International was founded in 1982 by a retired lady living near San Diego State University. She rented a room to an international student… and enjoyed it so much that she began to think of business possibilities. One by one she began to enlist others into her new business…. and, after a few years, sold her business to one of those host families. I took it over in 1987.

a. An officer in the U.S. Navy, I had retired in San Diego and was living in San Diego here with my wife and sons when this opportunity developed. Having served for more than 20 years on ships and duty stations in the Pacific and Europe and the USA, I could see that this type of business of “building bridges between people of many nations” would be an exciting continuation of what I’d already experienced for many years.

b. We had 75 host families when I took over in 1987… all hosting international students attending SDSU. I began to expand the business with a view toward assisting other universities, colleges and language schools in the area with their international student housing needs…. and soon began getting calls and messages from all directions, including from Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East.

The biggest boost in those early years was an all-expenses-paid invitation in 1990 to go to France to talk with an agency and students there about an exciting upcoming summertime trip to San Diego! The results were fantastic…… those kids had a GREAT time here! And…. more and more families began to join us as French and other overseas agencies began to send their students our way.

c. Very soon afterward, we began assisting Mira Costa, Palomar and Cal State San Marcos with their international student housing needs in the North San Diego area.

d. Then, in the early 1990s, we got a call from a new school that had just opened its doors in Arcadia! They had students scheduled in…. but… no place for them to stay! Could we help??? We quickly trained a coordinator… and found a number of highly interested host families…. and we were not only able to help THAT school…. but soon began to expand out into East LA, Orange County and West LA, as well!

e. Now… looking back over the 31 years since 1987, we’ve built our business up to the point where we have close to 2000 host families strategically located throughout Southern California…. and provide housing assistance for an average of 800-1000 students, businesspeople, vacationers and others each year.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
A continuing challenge, of course, is to search for and enlist the services of good host families…. families that will take good care of their students… families that will treat their students as they’d like for their OWN sons and daughters to be treated overseas.

Our Area Coordinators ALL have backgrounds as host families or school student advisors themselves…. so they are very skillful at bringing good, caring, highly motivated NEW host families on board… and in maintaining a good working relationship with each and every one of them as we bring students their way.

b. There are, of course, other challenges mostly dealing with student/host family actions and interactions. Examples include some of the following…. the student found stuck in the doggy door at 2 AM while trying to sneak out to smoke…. inviting a boyfriend in through the bedroom window to spend the night… the student who pretends to be sick to avoid a class or two… occasional host family inattention to quality meal preparations…. loud midnight noises resulting from video games or overseas personal calls…. overflowing bathtubs or toilets, causing extensive damages… smoking in the room or bathroom… occasional personality clashes or unfulfilled xpectations…. etc., etc., etc. Our coordinators have seen nearly everything… and always take quick action to resolve each and every challenge!

Homestay Services International – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Your homestay work in Southern California revolves around placing international visitors (including students, businesspeople, vacationers and others) in private rooms in the homes of experienced and caring American host families. …. where they can not only live in comfortable home-away-from-home surroundings… but, in addition, interact on a daily basis with these host families, improving their abilities to speak and understand the English language, while at the same time learning something new each day about American customs, ideas and ways of doing things.

a. We are recognized throughout the homestay industry for providing the highest quality service at modest prices… and for providing immediate attention to each and every question, problem or concern that comes our way.

b. Over the years we have received hundreds of compliments from our student and host families…. and from the schools and agencies (both foreign and domestic) we’ve worked with. These written endorsements are available to anyone at anytime.

c. And… while most of our competitors simply assign an inquiring student to a single family of the agency’s choosing, we have made it a practice to provide each incoming student with detailed list of profiles (ages/jobs/children/pets/amenities/proximity to schools, etc.) of 2-3-4 or more choices of the best/closest/nicest/most suitable host families available… and let them personally decide which family seems best for them, all things considered.

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
We are especially proud of our Area Coordinators, who have been such a great part of our work in Southern California over the years…. and of our terrific host families.

a. Our current Area Coordinators have worked with us for anywhere between 5 and 23 years… and they continue to meet new host families each week as they place students throughout Southern California. And…. some of our host families have hosted our students for 15-20 years or more!

b. With regard to our students and host families, we feel that we have changed many lives in many ways over the years… and provided memories that will last a lifetime. Some students have actually married host family members! Some host parents have been invited overseas as all-expenses-paid guests of their students’ parents!

Some have attended weddings in such diverse places as Japan and Peru! Many of our host families continue to correspond with students who came their way 5-10-15 years ago. Soooo many lifelong memories have come as a result of homestay experiences!

Contact Info:

• Phone: Phone (619) 461-4764
• Email: homestay@homestayservices.com

Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.