About Hosting
Volunteering to share your home with families in need is easy. You don’t have to leave your home, host only when it is convenient for you, and you can tailor your hosting experience to fit your lifestyle. Lilypad's volunteer hosts provide guests with a safe, clean, comfortable place to stay and access to a bathroom in their private homes. Other amenities can be offered, but are done so at the host’s discretion. **Please note that at this time, we are unable to accept host homes that are farther than 8 miles or twenty minutes from the hospital.**
Our Hosts:
Our volunteer host network currently includes 25 homes throughout the Charlottesville area, but is growing all the time! We encourage and welcome hosts from a diversity of backgrounds, who share the key values of generosity, compassion, understanding, and trust. After a hosting application is completed, our staff will visit your home to ease concerns, answer any questions you may have, and review the host manual.
To learn more about becoming a volunteer host, contact us at jen@lilypadshousing.org, call (434) 260-0724, or click the link below.
Become a volunteer LilyPads Housing Host today
Hosting FAQ's:
What do I need to do to be a Hospitality Homes host?
To be a host in our program, you need to be able to provide a safe, clean, comfortable place to stay and access to a bathroom.
Prospective hosts must complete a volunteer application. After the application is submitted, Homes from the Heart staff will contact you to set up an interview at your home. Prospective hosts must also pass a criminal background check.
Where do hosts live?
Hosts live in Charlottesville, Virginia or the surrounding county of Albemarle. We especially welcome hosts that live close to the University of Virginia Hospital, Martha Jefferson Hospital, and Fontaine Research Park. **Please note that at this time, we are unable to accept host homes that are farther than 8 miles or twenty minutes from the hospital.**
Do hosts ever complain about problems with guests?
A thorough screening process of prospective guests helps ensure that this is a rare occurrence. However, if a host has any difficulties or concerns, they should contact LilyPads and we will immediately address the issue, and if necessary, make other arrangements for the guest.
I don't allow drinking/smoking/children/etc. in my home. Is this a problem?
No. You set the rules for your guests, including restricting any behaviors. You control all aspects of the stay, including the length of stay, whether or not to accept children and/or patients as guests, how many guests you prefer at one time, accessibility to your home, and any other issues you feel are important. Hosting is flexible so that it can best fit your lifestyle.
In making placements, we also use other information about your home, such as availability of parking, flights of stairs, and pets.
I have a varied schedule. Can I specify when I can and cannot accept guests?
Of course. We understand that your schedule and availability may change. You can accept guests as your schedule permits and you can say “no” to hosting whenever it is inconvenient.
What about liability?
All guests are required to submit a liability release before arriving at the host home. We encourage hosts to check their homeowners or renters liability insurance coverage and inform their insurance carriers that they are volunteering with LilyPads and possibly add an inexpensive personal liability policy to increase their coverage.