Sholeh: Bank your time, build community
This Valentine's Day consider that love isn't just roses and sweethearts. It's also a casserole for a mourning friend. A driveway shoveled for a sick neighbor. Accompanying an elderly person to the doctor.
Once upon a time, when villages were the rule and "urban" didn't exist, we lived life this way - trading time according to ability and need, usually without being asked as people were more aware of each others' lives.
"It takes a village to raise a child, but what does it take to raise a village?"
Dr. Edgar Cahn, founder of Antioch School of Law and author of "My Brother's Keeper," asked himself exactly that. While recuperating from a heart attack some 20 years ago he came up with a modern answer and a new form of currency: Time banking. About a decade later time bank hours became a new approach to an old need, one that's catching on fast especially as the economy slowed.
The idea is simple. Think pay it forward, but with accountability. You, Joe, Mary, and I are all members of a local time bank. You need to know if your Montana will is valid in Idaho. I'm a lawyer, so I spend an hour reviewing it. That gives me an hour of banked time, or one time dollar (without interest). I need my cabinet repaired so Joe, a carpenter, takes care of that. Joe needs a haircut, so he gets one from stylist Mary. Mary doesn't drive, so you take her to the mall. Each person received equal time for time banked, regardless of background or particular skill; there are no "throw-away people," as Dr. Cahn writes.
In the time bank system of service an hour is an hour, period. A lawyer's time is no more or less valued than that of a maid, mechanic, or accountant. This even exchange of time results in no tax consequence, confirmed by an IRS ruling. Time banks are nonprofit organizations and fairly well organized.
Time banking seems to be having an additional effect: A greater sense of community and compassion. Neighbors and community members are using time banks as an excuse for pot lucks, charitable efforts, educational classes (instructors get TimeBankHours), and other reasons to get to know each other and grow together.
I searched but found no time bank in North Idaho or Spokane. There are at least 270 across the country; I even found one in the United Kingdom. The biggest is Dane County's in Wisconsin with 1,500 members. Boise has one, and seems to be using the TimeBanks USA system (http://Timebanks.org). TimeBanks USA was founded in 1995 to "rebuild community" by serving as a resource for local time banks. Arguably they're succeeding, as time bank start-ups organize around neighborhood clusters and quickly foster more involvement in communities, with people helping each other improve quality of life.
Most time banks don't have membership fees, as the concept is meant to be cost-free, but take donations. Donations may be used to pay for meeting rooms, copies, Websites, and background checks for new applicants, although these too could be time-donated by qualified members. TimeBank USA charges a size-based fee, but provides member banks access to organizing software (to keep track of hours, skills, and availability), along with instructions on how to start and run a time bank.
Don't confuse time banking with bartering; the latter places a market value on the service. Time banking refrains from any valuation but time. And that's priceless.
Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at sholehjo@hotmail.com