The Rising Sun homestay community

Mary Ellison, her daughter Lisa Tallman and cousins Ruby and Patty Chambers share a great deal more than adjacent backyards and family dinners. Each is part of a community of homestay families in Rising Sun, Maryland.

Homestay mother Mary Ellison gets a hug from Keyla Molleda, Venezuela '99

It all started when Patty opened her home to an ELI student from Saudi Arabia. Because of the close extended family relationship between these relatives, the student soon adopted Ellison as a surrogate grandmother, giving her hugs and posing for photographs before he left.

Ellison, a recent widow and the daughter of a minister, had always been involved with helping others. A serious discussion with Ruby, Patty and Lisa about the ins-and-outs of being a homestay family revealed their biggest reason for doing so was the sheer enjoyment of living with these international students. With that, Mary made the decision: she, too, wanted to become a homestay family. Her first student was Hiroki, an English teacher from Japan. He noted how unusual it was in Ellison’s neighborhood to see mothers and fathers playing outdoors with their children. With that, he ran out into the yard, Ellison recalls, and began playing with all who were there.

Ellison loves the opportunity that homestay familyhood affords her to get to know people of many different nationalities. In fact, she’s been known to plan her visits to her second home in Florida so that she can be back in time to host students from Kobe Shoin University when they come to campus. While she’s away, daughter Lisa calls her to keep her current on the latest happenings in Rising Sun. Ellison has even decided to learn how to use email, she says, so she can stay in closer contact with her international extended family.

The more people Ellison meets, the more she realizes what they share.

“People are all the same,” she says, “with different personalities, but the same heart.”