The largest designated sponsor of the U.S. State Department-regulated au pair program announced its 2024 Host Family of the Year.
Cultural Care Au Pair (CCAP) named the Bright family, an Army National Guard family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as its recipient. Capt. Joel Rice Bright, a JAG officer with Vermont National Guard, and his wife Caroline Bright were chosen from hundreds of nominations by au pairs. They shared the experience of working with Issy, an au pair from the UK, with Reserve + National Guard Magazine.
Having Issy at home to support their family offers flexibility to set a schedule around their needs and allows the kids to be at home, the Brights said, which gives Joel and Caroline the ability to maximize the amount of time they get to spend with their children. In addition to his military service, Joel’s civilian career is as a police officer in Philadelphia. Caroline is a flight attendant and minister, and she said she is currently working to join the Air National Guard as a chaplain. Add in three kids under the age of five and life gets busy.
Joel initially suggested getting an au pair and Caroline thought they could never afford in-home childcare, but after a friend welcomed an au pair Caroline started to ask questions and realized that it was a great option for them.
“It is the only child care option that made sense, given our schedules and given the demands of our multiple jobs,” she said.
Issy has been with them the past two years.
“The past 20 months here in the U.S. have been incredible and life changing, and that’s all down to my hostparents, Caroline and Joel,” wrote Issy in her nomination. “When I first arrived nearly 2 years ago, I knew instantly we were a perfect match, but I don’t think I could have imagined the true family I would find in them.”
Joel also says having an au pair has additional benefits that fit the demands of military training.
“Your child care becomes part of your family,” he said. “So as your family moves around, as long as you’re staying in the U.S. — like if you have TDY somewhere for a month — and it’s a place where your family can come down, you can bring everyone down, which is what we did.”
Living with the Brights has given Issy a chance to see the U.S, like when she accompanied Caroline across the country to attend Joel’s graduation at Fort Moore, Georgia, then travel to Charlottesville, North Carolina, while Joel’s training continued.
Issy shared how hard it was for her host family when Joel left for military training from September 2023 to February 2024: “Those were some hard months, and a lot of tears were shed. If you look at the dates, you may notice that was right after we found out Caroline was pregnant. I’ve always been proud and in awe of her, but this took it to a whole new level. She had to deal with being a solo mom while being pregnant, completing an internship, and doing her master’s degree — but she did it all with so much grace and diligence.”
Caroline adds how important having Izzy in their life has been.
“How would we possibly both be able to have careers? Let alone weird careers! If we did not have someone like who had the flexibility to do this,” she said.
Visit Cultural Care Au Pair Program to learn about special discounts for military families.