Time for a Cooperative Economy: Time Banking Talk & Orientation with Stephanie Rearick

Tuesday, October 1, 2013 - 7:00pm

Jamaica Plain Forum

Across the nation, “cooperative” and “gift” economies are on the rise. People are bartering, gifting, sharing, and trading time instead of money. Join us to talk about this inspiring trend with Stephanie Rearick, Director of the Dane County Time Exchange, one of the country’s most vibrant time banks with over 2,000 members. Stephanie is currently on a “rolling conference” across the US to learn more about the ways the cooperative economy is unfolding.

Join Stephanie to learn about time banking and other forms of cooperative economy, including how time banks can be integrated with local businesses and community currencies, and how cooperative economies can help address our current climate and financial crises. Hear inspiring stories from Stephanie’s tour about cooperation in action.

Stephanie’s talk will be followed by an orientation to the Time Trade Circle, the Boston-area time bank with over 700 members.

To help shape a newly forming JP “node” of the Time Trade Circle, please contact Sarah Byrnes.

What is a time bank? A time bank is an organization where members have a bank account of time, and exchange time-based services with other members. It’s a pool of members, and operates like a circle, not a one-to-one swap or barter. In a time bank, for example, Lara makes a cake for Aldo, Keren gives skiing lessons to David, Dianne gives Carol ride to the airport, Carol paints a painting for Louisa, Krystyna lends her vacation house to Alice, etc. You get time credit for the services you provide, and you can spend that time on services that other members offer. The Time Trade Circle lets us share our own skills and get help from others who offer things we need. See www.timetradecircle.org for more info.