Susan Wildeboer

Janet - Host mom in Los Altos who switched from another agency
We have really enjoyed working with Susan. She helped us find a really great au pair that is a perfect match for our family. We have used another au pair agency in the past, but found that Susan and the Cultural Care process are much more organized, informative and user-friendly. We are happy to have switched to Cultural Care!

Dave and Christy - Host Parents in Portola Valley since 2001
Having had 7 au pairs (losing one to a death in her immediate family, gaining one through a transition and keeping one for a second year), we have experience with close to any eventuality possible when sharing a home with an au pair. What this experience has taught us is that you need:

Experience: Susan brings her years of experience to help solve problems without ever undermining either the family’s or the au pair’s feelings. She makes it easier to have those tough conversations because you like to meet with her and she has positive creative solutions.

Organization: LCCs need to build a relationship with the au pairs because the au pairs lack a network that host families by definition have. Susan organizes engaging and entertaining monthly meetings and family events. Our au pairs knew they had an advocate and pressure valve that would help them be successful.

Trust: An LCC must balance the needs of the family and the au pair and Susan maintains that fine balance with exquisite precision. We welcomed her into our home and enjoyed her insights.

Indeed, we feel so strongly about Susan’s skill and expertise being a key part to the success of our au pair relationships, we continued to request her as our LCC even though we are outside her region. We believe the expenses of having to pay for the gas to get our au pair to her meetings and parties and the hassle of having an au pair support network being a bit more distant were well out-weighed by the benefits. Bottom line: families need professional LCC support to create success inter-cultural exchange and Susan is the ultimate professional: Her service is worth the extra effort.

Toni - Host mom in Los Altos for 7 years
My family has been hosting Au Pairs for nearly 7 years. We have been a part of the Cultural Care program in both Michigan and California and had the pleasure of sharing our home and family with 9 girls. Susan has been our LCC for the past couple of years and provides the most superior support I’ve had with CCAP. She is knowledgeable of every facet of the program, extremely organized, tremendously supportive of the au pairs and host families and drives to involve everyone in the meetings and get togethers facilitated by her role.

Susan makes her monthly “checking in” calls religiously, strives to make sure that all new au pairs have a “buddy” with whom they will integrate and personalizes her visits and discussions to the girls. I am very comfortable talking to Susan about our experiences and issues as they arise. She has creative ways to engage ourselves with the girls, and spends a lot of time thoroughly exploring various activites for the monthly meetings so there is variation and excitement for her team.

I am a very happy host mother and would be willing to talk with anyone that may have additional requests for information or just simply want to discuss the program and its adjustments and benefits.

Linda - Host Mom in San Jose since 2004
We were recently in transition for the first time and Susan helped tremendously by working with us and our au pair to resolve the issues. She really impressed me with her thoughtful, caring style and especially her dedication to improving our communication with our au pair.

I am pleased to say that things are going very well with our au pair now, and that Susan really went the extra mile to help make that happen.

Cindy - Host Mom in Virginia with TWO sets of Twins!!
I can still remember my first conversation with Susan. My husband and I were apprehensive about the Au Pair program until we were educated about the program by Susan. We have two sets of twins. Boys who are two and a half and boy / girl twins who are 10 months old. We were considering our options and daycare for 4 children is very expensive. We decided to welcome an Au Pair into our home in March 2009. During the entire process (from beginiing to end) Susan was always by our side even though she was 3000 miles away. On numerous occasions we received emails/phone calls from her to make sure everything was running smoothly. In a family that has 2 sets of twins having an au pair has made our life much easier.

Every childcare option has it’s bumps and difficulties because it involves people. Unfortunately our first au pair did not work out. Because of Susan’s professionalism, knowledge of my family and the program and the bond we built we turned to Susan for some much needed guidance and advice. No matter when or why we called her she has always been there for our family. We found a wonderful au pair to come join our family and now we are eager to learn about her culture and her learning about ours. Ina, our au pair, is like a family member and is always willing and welcomed to join us in family activities. Susan is a big reason why we are involved in the Cultural Care Program.