Columbia's Time Banking Program Measures Services Equally

Monday, November 19, 2007

(The Baltimore Examiner) -- In Columbia, sewing curtains for a neighbor is worth just as much as grocery shopping or striping wallpaper.

Through the Columbia Association’s time banking program, all services are worth the same amount. A “time dollar” is earned for every hour spent performing a service.

“My shining your shoes is no less important than you driving me to the airport,” said Muriel Nolen, manager of the Columbia Community Exchange, the time banking program.

Since its launch in February, the program has grown to more than 160 members and thousands of time dollars earned for services ranging from household repairs to transportation, she said.

“The interest has been overwhelming,” Nolen said.

The time banking concept — trading services rather than currency — has been around for two decades. Edgar Cahn, an activist and founder of Time Banks USA in Washington, promoted the alternative currency in response to massive social welfare spending cuts.

Today, programs operate in 22 countries, including two in Maryland, said Cahn. Each program has a different mission — helping seniors, building community — but all are based on the concept of reciprocity.

Time banking is not a traditional volunteer program, and those who perform services have to be willing to accept help, Nolen said.

“The one challenge is to get [traditional volunteers] to request assistance and not view it as dependency,” she said.

In Columbia, the exchange network centers on the mission of enhancing people’s lives through social networks, and anyone can participate, Nolen said.

It’s this connection that attracted Bernadette Michaels to the program. The Columbia resident who works as an organizing consultant has called on neighbors to extend a fence in her back yard, and in turn she sewed drapes for another neighbor.

“The highlight is meeting new people,” she said.

For a time banking program to work, there must be a common mission, said Barbara Huston, president and CEO of Partners in Care in Anne Arundel County.

Partners in Care, founded in 1993 and now claiming about 2,200 members, focuses on serving seniors.

“Time banking isn’t a mission. It’s a tool,” Huston said.

“People need something they can believe in.”

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com