Has the Time Come for Time Banks?

Laundry and pet-sitting were not in the job description when Laura Gutierrez joined the Lehigh Valley Health Network as head of its innovative Community Exchange program three years ago. Gutierrez, though, has selflessly performed those tasks whenever the need arose. While it might be difficult to grasp why the non-profit veteran's time would be well-spent on such everyday tasks, it is easy to see the impact. It's less about Gutierrez offering a selfless helping hand to someone in need and more about emphasizing and organizing the value and power of people's time.

The Community Exchange is one of several thriving operations throughout Pennsylvania employing a concept known as time banking, in which members from a common geography request and respond to a variety of different services. Originally designed to help reach isolated populations such as the elderly, the physically and mentally disadvantaged, time banks have grown to include members from all walks of life. While the economy has forced many to find different ways to value their time and created a new rush of members, something larger is at play.

"(The growth) is connected in many ways to things like the 'grow local' movement and the reaction against globalization," says Judith Lasker, a Lehigh University professor who has studied the Community Exchange program extensively and is co-authoring a book on time banking. "We found people join for many different reasons, because they're looking for a network of people to get to know and it's a way to get things done that they may not be able to afford to do otherwise."

Community Exchange is considered one of the models of success. It has grown from a group of 30 senior citizens 10 years ago to 500 members around the Allentown-Bethlehem area and has seen a major surge in membership the last two years. In West Philadelphia, the Walnut Hill Time Bank was created a little more than a year ago by the Enterprise Center community development corporation to help connect seniors with the younger and diverse populations moving into the Walnut Hill neighborhood. In the Chester County suburbs, Phoenixville Area Time Bank started in 2004 to give local mentally disabled residents the opportunity to contribute their abilities to those who needed them and has grown to include 200 members and parts of Montgomery County. Other time banks operate in Pittsburgh and in Central PA in rural Lewisburg.

While each time bank looked to initially meet targeted populations' needs in their respective communities, the idea of bartering time--with an equal value placed on all services rendered—has become increasingly popular across the board and has proven tangible benefits for community building, health care, personal finance and skills development.

"If you're a lawyer doing an hour of work or you pull weeks for an hour, you have the same value," says Imanni Wilkes, who helps coordinate the Walnut Hill Time Bank.

The idea of time banking sprouted in the U.S. about 30 years ago when Dr. Edgar Cahn dreamed up the concept of "Time Dollars" as a new currency to combat decreasing funds for social programs. By the 1990s, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded $1.2 million in funding to build time banks focused on senior care. There are about 75 time banks nationwide according to Time Banks USA, the national governing body that develops, supports and promotes time banking. The U.K. is host to about 180 time banks, half of which are still under development.

Pennsylvania ranks second behind California among states with the most time banks, and Community Exchange has grown to become PA's shining star of the time-banking universe.  Membership coordinator Kathy Perlow has been with the project since the beginning and has co-authored papers on time banking. Community Exchange is often called upon to help new time banks, and just last month did a training in Upstate New York.

For Community Exchange, the focus is entirely on public health and recognizing individuals' abilities to take their health into their own hands.

"Sometimes the solution lies within the community itself, from the individuals themselves," says Gutierrez . "We see every individual in the community as a positive asset."

Lasker, a distinguished sociology professor, initially studied Community Exchange as part of a master's sociology course she teaches. The study revealed that one in three time bank members reported improved mental health, one in five reported improved physical health and one in two said it improved their social supports network.

"There's a wide variety of motivations and benefits, and that's why we find time banking so exciting," says Lasker. "The people (at Community Exchange) gaining health-wise, and it's a more holistic approach that many people have advocated for a long time. This is one way I think will continue to be popular."

Many of the services offered by Community Exchange members are directly tied to improving health, like Wheel Time, its specific program to link available drivers with community members who need rides to medical appointments.

Companionship is another service frequently requested. Community Exchange manages its members, their available skills, and the total of "time dollars" that members accumulate and owe. The group also sends out a hard-copy newsletter with a directory for those on the other side of the technological divide.

"Our biggest challenge is getting people to be brave enough to ask for what they need," says Gutierrez. "We'd be even more successful if we had more people involved."

A newcomer to PA, Carol Meerschaert had been living in Paoli for more than two years and was still getting to know the area when she attended a local Meetup gathering and learned about the Phoenixville Area Time Bank.

Like all new members, she went through an orientation that feeds an extensive and easy-to-use online directory of available services--the Phoenixville time bank also uses social media to spread the word on events and news. Meerschaert dove right into the organization and helps coordinate marketing and fund-raising efforts. In turn, she earned "time dollars" to have someone bang her gutters in after this winter's heavy snowfall.

"I don't do ladders," she says.

Most of the Phoenixville time bank's 179 members are employed, which speaks to time banking's versatility.

"If you want something done, ask a busy person," she says. "It includes high-end professional services to everyday things like pet-sitting. This is building the entire community."

That was the idea down the road in West Philly last year, when the Enterprise Center researched what was going on in Phoenixville. Wilkes says her organization realized that successful time banks started with an existing database of potential members who were in close proximity. Using a $2,500 grant from Coming of Age's Make a Big Difference program, the Enterprise Center harnessed and trained volunteers to engage senior citizens in Walnut Hill.

"Our goal is to draw connections for residents in West Philadelphia and we saw this as a natural outgrowth of our work," says Wilkes.

Technology, staff and funding are all key components to successful time banks, and often times that is still a deterrent to the concept's growth. There is little doubt, however, that the nation's economic crisis has helped seed time banks with new members looking to maintain their skills and perhaps save some money.

Ultimately, it's what happens when nobody's looking that best exemplifies the potential of time banking.

"Reporting can sometimes be a challenge for us," says Gutierrez. "Some people will say 'I'll take you to the doctor but I'm not going to charge you.'

"But that's mission accomplished, I guess."

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Joe Petrucci is managing editor of Keystone Edge. Send feedback here.

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Photos:

Community Exchange member Lisa Salomon, right,  earns time bank credit for running a morning Seated Yoga Class for fellow members at the Lehigh Valley Health Network's School of Nursing in Allentown.

Lehigh University professor Judith Lasker (submitted photo).

Laura Gutierrez checks the Community Exchange member database.

Gutierrez's day book of schedules show the matrix of names and jobs to be matched up.

Community Exchange members Dorthy Green (right front) and Elaine Rudakiewicz (right rear) map out their schedules and job assignments in Gutierrez's office.

All Photographs by Brad Bower