Karen S. Relstab

Juliana From Brazil

Dear Host Family,

Juliana from Brazil is looking for a host family in the US. She is 22 years old and a university student who wants to be a translator. She is in great health, a non smoker, swimmer, pet friendly and speaks English. She has experience working as a teacher, secretary, cashier and assistant. She lives in Campo Grande Brazil, with her parents and younger sister. Juliana likes to cook and help her mother with the household activites. In her spare time she enjoys volleyball, swimming, bicycling, and walking. She also loves to organize parties and learn to make new desserts. Her childcare experience has been working in a daycare center.

Juliana has been driving every day and has her liscense.

Juliana could be arriving to your home as early as the first week in May.

If you are looking for childcare and would like to learn more about Juliana and the au pair program I would love to hear from you.

Local Childcare Coordinator

Karen Relstab

Telephone 847-680-3794

It’s Census Time - How do I count my au pair?

As you are filling out your census forms for the 2010 census some host families are wondering should they count their au pair on the census. Here is the recommendation:

In the first section where it asks about household members there’s a separate box for live in babysitters and others who may live in the home but may not be members of the family and that’s where an au pair can be counted.

If you have any further queistons you can go to the census website at

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

LOOKING TO MAKE UP A MISSED LCC MEETING. I AM LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO HELP ME AT THE ABOVE EVENT FROM 10 AM TO 12 NOON. PLEASE RSVP TO ME ASAP IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

Karen Relstab

Pizza & Laser Tag At Rinkside Family Entertainment Center!

Spring Savings - Save $350
The spring season represents new beginnings -making now a great time to secure childcare by hosting a Cultural Care au pair. Families who apply between March 1, 2010 and March 31, 2010 are entitled to a $350 program fee discount. The weekly cost is just $330-or $7.30/hr (per family, not per child). To qualify for this discount, families must be new to Cultural Care Au Pair and welcome an au pair into their home by October 22, 2010.

As part of Cultural Care Au Pair’s mission to break down barriers of culture and language through educational exchange, a group of local childcare coordinators and staff recently visited South Africa to see firsthand the difference the donations from the Cultural Care community have made through our charitable organization Kids First.

Since it’s inception in 2004, Kids First has supported many worldwide organizations that work with at-risk youth. From the daycare center in Brazil to the school library in New Orleans to an orphanage in Russia, Kids First has supported a wide range of global organizations. Our most recent work at an orphanage and daycare center in a poverty-stricken township outside Capetown, South Africa is another great example of the work we are doing worldwide.

Cultural Care staff and LCCs had an opportunity to visit several projects funded through CHOSA, an organization that Kids First supports. CHOSA provides support to programs that work with at-risk children and their families to provide nutrition, medication, clothing, food, shelter and an education.

During the service visit, those who participated had a chance to visit the Ubuhle Babantwana Care Center, which helps 150 children, some of whom are HIV positive. Donations received from au pairs, host families and Cultural Care LCCs and staff have provided funds for the building of a new structure for the infants and toddlers in the center. The group from Cultural Care Au Pair had an opportunity to see the new structure, meet the inspirational director and dedicated teachers and had some time to play with the children.

In addition, the group visited the Ilitha-Labantwana Place of Safety, the Philani Child Health and Nutrition Project, the Emasithandane Children’s Project and the Baphumulele Children’s Home. The Cultural Care team is now bringing their experience back to the U.S. to raise awareness, and additional funds for even more projects that Kids First supports.

“Our Kids First trip to Cape Town was truly amazing and inspiring,” says Local Childcare Coordinator Trudy Mar. “The work, effort, love and sacrifice the women heading up these projects give to all of the kids goes well beyond what most of us could imagine. If one little body sleeps better, eats better and smiles more, we’ve helped to change their future and make the world a better place. Every dollar we raise for Kids First definitely does make a difference.”

For information about how you can make a contribution to Kids First, or raise awareness for the programs it supports, visit

http://www.culturalcare.com/aboutus/kidsfirst/ or contact Local Childcare Coordinator Karen Relstab telephone 847.680.3794

On this sunny, cold February afternoon. Host Mom Laura and her new au pair from Brazil, Lucilene, meet their Cultural Care LCC Karen Relstab for coffee.

Lucilene is completing her first year and is extending for an additional year. She is a teacher from Dourados, Brazil. She speaks English, has a extensive au pair application, and passed a background. Her application describes her as responsible, mature, and a experienced teracher. Her hobbies are travel, camping, exercising, drawing, arts/crafts, and photography. She has a wonderful family in Brazil who is very important to her.

Lucilene is one of 30 au pairs assigned to LCC Karen Relstab in the Libertyville and surrounding communities. The au pairs represent the countries of Brazil, Germany, Chile, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, and Mexico.  There are six male au pairs in Karen’s group; Tom, Patrick, and Andy from Germany; Alex and Aquiles from Brazil, and Rickard from Sweden.

Cultural Care Au Pair is the leading au pair agency in the US and has been arranging au pairs for American families since 1989, 20 years.

Since 2004 LCC Karen Relstab has helped hundreds of families in Lake County find flexible, affordable, and quality childcare through the Cultural Care Au Pair Program.

To find out about hosting an au pair call.

Karen Relstab

Cultural Care Au Pair

Local Childcare Coordinator

Telephone 847-680-3794

Email karen.relstab@lcc.culturalcare.com

While many families use the full 45 hours per week with their au pair, there are many other families who don’t.  While many families think about the au pair hours in relation to when they are at work, one way that we’ve found host parents have also benefited from the help an au pair provides is by establishing a date night once a week.  Those couple of hours where the parents can go out to dinner and reconnect allows them to come back to the house as a stronger team and more on the same page and that has benefits for the whole family.  So, if your families have some hours to spare, encourage them to put them to great use and invest in date night.

If you would like to learn how you can become a host family call me.

Karen Relstab

Local Childcare Coordinator

847-680-3794

http://www.myworkbutterfly.com/photo/fall-2010-libertyvile-butler?context=featured