Some helpful people she has never met before have helped 17-year-old Merita on her journey from Albania to Kirkland.

When her flight was delayed at an airport in Chicago over the weekend, a traveler helped the Puget Sound Adventist Academy exchange student find a place to sleep. On Sunday, a woman and perfect stranger named Carol Lynn Cole befriended her at the Denver Airport, where the girl was stranded again while waiting for her delayed plane to the Sea-Tac Airport.

By Monday afternoon, Merita made it to Kirkland, where she hopes to meet a family she’s never met before — and that could be you.

Brought to the United States through the Northwest Services PEACE program, Merita (last name omitted for privacy) needs a host family who will provide her shelter and transportation while she goes to school this semester.

The nonprofit student-exchange program focuses on cultural exchange, connecting high-school exchange students with a host family in the United States.

“This is an unusual situation,” said Nancy Roberts, Northwest Services program manager who is taking care of Merita until she can find a Kirkland family to live with. She usually places public school students in her community in La Center, Wash., however Merita requested a private school in Kirkland where she can study to become a doctor.

“I have tried everything I can think of and I still do not have a host family for this girl,” Roberts said. “She will need to stay with me until I find her a family, but I am too far away to get her to school.”

Determined to help Merita make her dreams come true, Roberts is reaching out to the Kirkland community for help.

It is easy to be a host family, Roberts said and just about anyone can do it. Candidates must pass a background check and a reference check.

And families gain a lot from the experience as well. Roberts hosted a German student a couple years ago, whom she has kept in touch with.

“By the time the kids go home, if you’re not crying at the airport, then it wasn’t a good exchange,” she added.

In her letter to her “new family,” Merita said she looks forward to the opportunity of attending Puget Sound Adventist Academy, where she will register on Thursday, Jan. 22.

“My big dream, since I was a child, is to be a good and professional doctor because helping others gives me a great pleasure,” she said. “I hope that my dream comes true this year.”

Merita, who friends call Meri, likes to study, hang out with friends and drink coffee.

Her ultimate goal is to return to her country where she would like to be a doctor and help others have a better life.

For information, contact Nancy Roberts at 866-675-3977 or treez@tds.net. For information about the Northwest Services PEACE program, visit www.nw-services.com