"Giving each other a helping hand"

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IRS Ruling

Time Bank Models
-Building Community
-Education
-Elder Care
-Youth at Risk

What are Time Dollars

Building Community:
Neighbor-to-Neighbor TimeBanks involve individuals helping one another and engaging with their community by exchanging services. They strengthen communities and create social networks of trust and caring like an extended family by incorporating reciprocity, one exchange at a time. They are based on the idea that I help you, you help another, and that person helps another.
Neighbor-to-Neighbor TimeBanks can apply equally as well in both economically thriving and struggling communities. They easily cross social and racial divides and lead to caring, trust and cooperation, which become the driving forces for social change in building community of place.

Community Exchange, Allentown, Pennsylvania:
Community Exchange (CE) began in October 1999. It was designed to improve health in the community by connecting people through the sharing of skills, services and stories. Founded by a collaborative of 13 non- profits brought together by the MESH Initiative of the Lehigh Valley Hospital and funded by the Dorothy Rider Health Care Trust, CE modeled their program after the “Neighbor-to-Neighbor” TimeBank model.

As an intergenerational support network, CE strengthens community and builds trust through individual exchanges, social gatherings, classes and community projects.
The CE mission: To invite all people in the community to join in a supportive reciprocal network where every member is respected and valued for their time and talents. Through the sharing of our challenges and solutions we sustain a member-driven Community Exchange, where everyone can be a contributor, turning “You Need Me,” into “We Need Each Other.”

One very specific goal is to reduce isolation and increase connections to the community. Research using the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and member evaluations has shown that the less isolated a person is, the healthier the individual will be.

CE has seen continuous growth since its inception. Members include individuals as well as organizational partners. They work closely with several departments in the hospital including a physician’s practice and clinic, and neighborhood agencies including those working with mental health, aging, low income neighborhoods and the arts.

Member spotlight:
Jon and his wife Doris came to an orientation to see what Community Exchange was all about. Doris came to find a way to get Jon companionship for when she was out working. Jon has a disease that has caused him to be in a wheelchair. He spends his day at home alone. Doris was interested in finding ways that she could help others in order to earn hours so that Jon could receive companionship from others. During the orientation we explained how wonderful it would be for her to become involved and earn hours for Jon but that Jon would also be able to earn his own hours. They were both a little surprised but went ahead with the enrollment for both of them and soon became very active. Jon not only can finish any mailing job in record time, he also teaches piano, weeds by getting out of his wheel chair going from section to section in the garden on his hands and knees and provides entertainment for social events. He has also offered to help others rake leaves. In addition to receiving companionship Jon has also given companionship and a sense of purpose for another member who suffers from mental illness. The two meet regularly and share time and help each other in many different ways. Jon has also shared time with a blind member who loves to sing and is an active participant in most social events. Jon became a member of the lunch bunch group and there he made friends with another couple who now share time with him and his wife playing cards. All in all Jon and Doris have a network that has helped them make connections that have been very beneficial to them and many others.