A work exchange program changed the life of a college graduate my family knows. In December, our friends' son graduated from college with a degree in radio and television. But we live in a mid-size community and there's not much work available for on-air personalities which is what he wanted to do. There really wasn't much work of any kind for him to do except McDonald's which was hiring. He didn't want to keep living with his parents until he found a job in his field so he decided to move to find work. The problem was how would he support himself until he did?

Gary started learning about this host home concept in which he could be paid for some type of provided service with free room and board. I thought, at first, he was crazy for wanting to share space with strangers and offer some kind of free in home care for them. But then we heard about his success.

A couple of nights ago, Gary's parents came over for dinner and were talking about his experience. He moved to the capital of our state which was about six hours away to a host home that needed an elder care companion. Apparently, the patriarch of the family had recently lost his wife to cancer, and he wasn't taking it so well. He had to move in with his kids, give up the home he'd shared with his wife, and spend hours alone while everyone else was working or in school.

As Gary was providing in home elder care for the family, he was also able to start submitting resumes. He could have done this from back home, too, but traveling six hours to get to interviews would have been impractical. Now he was just a hop, skip, and a jump from lots of potential jobs. And the family understood if he needed to leave for an hour to hit an interview. Plus, he didn't have to worry about taking on another job that would interfere with his job search. He provided in home elder care for this man who really needed a friend.

In this economy, the host home makes sense for lots of people. It seems like a win-win experience for everyone.