Outside of Yerevan, homestay living is mandatory. In Yerevan, homestay living is not mandatory but is encouraged. When a volunteer is accepted into the Birthright Armenia program, she/he can choose to be placed with a local host family during all or part of his/her stay.  A volunteer can choose to stay at another place as long as the volunteer arranges it and pays for it.  Birthright Armenia cannot provide rental assistance or information.

It is up to the host family to decide whether or not a key will be provided, however, volunteers will have a constant access to the house. 

Living with host families is very safe, and we have a network of families throughout Armenia. Each host family is pre-selected and pre-screened by Birthright Armenia. 

Birthright Armenia strongly encourages and offers incentives to volunteers who choose to live with host families, as it allows volunteers to interact with locals on a more personal level. Families usually have at least one member of the family who is within age range of the volunteer allowing for youth-to-youth contact at home.

Birthright Armenia (BR) pays host family living basic expenses as follows: 1) For volunteers serving outside Yerevan (any time of year), and those serving in Yerevan (September-May), BR pays for the basic expenses 2) From June - August, BR pays for 50% of basic expenses of Yerevan based volunteers, and the volunteer pays the remaining 50% (which equals 41,600 AMD) 3) From June-August, BR pays for 100% of basic expenses of Yerevan based volunteers if the service is a continuation of a minimum 14 weeks of service in the non-summer months. 

BR Lite participants pay for the entire cost of living with the host family at 83,200 AMD per month. For winter months (November 15 – March 15), the family is compensated with the amount of 96,200 drams per month.

At their option, volunteers may choose to have dinner with their host families, as well as do their laundry at the home.  The dinner plan costs 30,000 AMD per month, and the laundry plan costs 10,000 AMD.  Both of these optional expenses are paid by the volunteer.

Absolutely yes. Within a week after the day of your arrival you can decide if you wish to continue staying with your host family or not. It is compulsory for you to live with the host family for at least a week. If not, you must pay a fee for this one week at a rate of 3,500 drams per day. If you stay for a week and then decide to move out, the organization takes charge of the payment to the host family for that week. After one month of service you can leave the host family at any time by giving 2 weeks prior notice to BR and to the family.

Birthright Armenia reserves the right to place volunteers with families at its own discretion.  All locations are close to the city center or are within walking distance to public transportation.

Internet/WiFi may be available in some homes, but should not be considered to be the norm. There are many internet/WiFi access points throughout Armenia, including at the Birthright Armenia office.

We are in constant search for new families, thus there are always some new families to the program. However, typically our host families are experienced and have hosted at least one volunteer before you.

Absolutely. For participants who do not speak Armenian, generally but not always, at least one host family member will have some knowledge of a language spoken by the participant. However, a lot of our volunteers ask to be placed with a family that only speaks Armenian, as that helps them to learn Armenian really quickly. 

Yes. In order not to inconvenience the families, we ask that volunteers return home by midnight. From time to time or on special occasions you can come home later by giving the family prior notice. If you prefer to have more freedom, you should consider apartment rental options.

We understand that on rare occasions participants may be staying outside their homestays. Our policy allows spending one night per month outside for personal reasons. For additional nights, the participants will have to compensate BR at a rate of 3,500 AMD/night. Exception to this policy is during Birthright Armenia organized excursions, weekends for out-of-Yerevan participants, work assignments, pre-approved vacations and the long New Year holidays (usually from Dec 31 to January 7).

Certainly. In the pre-arrival package, you will have the chance to mention any specifics that you want us to take into consideration. We will alert the host family of your specific case prior to your arrival. 

Bringing a gift for your host family is not mandatory, but it’s a great gesture of gratitude for a family that will be your host and family for many weeks/months ahead. 
Here are some gift ideas for your host family:

• Souvenir coffee cup/mug from your home city/state/country.
• Toys, board games or puzzles for your host siblings. 
• A small make up or lotion/ perfume set for your host mother/sister.
• A box of chocolates, candy or cookies.
• Fashion accessories/ jewelry (earrings, necklace, and bracelet) for your host mother/sister.

Gifts that are not appropriate in Armenian culture include used clothes, or personal hygiene products.

Yes, that is something we can arrange. You will be asked to fill out a separate host family application, where you can mention your language preferences.

Yes, we will provide you the host family’s contact information prior to your arrival, so you can contact them and get to know them

About 2/3 of our volunteers choose to live with host families

Yes, as a rule we place one volunteer in one host family at the same time