Photo by John Cameron
Chat-On-A-Bench, December 2024
A different format this time….
We were a small group this month. Also it happened that the HUMANs (Humans United in Mutual Aid Networks) was holding its quarterly summit this weekend. Stephanie Rearick, the founder of HUMANs was once the chair of the TimeBanks.Org Board, and timebanking stands right at the heart of the HUMANs. So we agreed that we should find a way to bring people in the Chat and the Summit together. The overlap in time between the two events was short – just 30 minutes, so our choice was to take the second half hour of our Chat for that purpose.
In introducing Stephanie, I wanted to share what a visionary leader she has been in the timebanking world over the past quarter century.
Stephanie was the first timebank coordinator/founder to use network-based timebanking software. She led the way in our understanding of how that could increase the reach and level of membership within a timebank. She co-led two highly successful international timebank gatherings at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, in 2007 and 2009, the second time as the TimeBanks.Org Co-Chair. She then founded HUMANs as a co-op of individuals who take up the important work that’s needed in the world, but which money either will not pay for or else greatly undervalues. The approach she has developed is entrepreneurial – using sharing, timebanking, and collective funds and more to free up resource development and activation. She encourages HUMANs members to develop projects which can be picked up and applied by others. HUMANs is thus strongly action-oriented.
After Stephanie’s introduction and her fleshing out her own mission and vision, we provided a brief description of timebanking for HUMANs participants who knew of timebanking but were unsure of how it works. Each person then gave a personal description of how they came to be engaged in either Timebanking or HUMANs, and then provided a short description of their project or their timebank.
Everyone was encouraged to put their names and contact info in the chat and to reach out to anyone whose approach or work felt especially relevant to them.
River's "freeform timebanking" project was highlighted as one of the many ways in which timebanking is structured – and we agreed that while there was no time in this meeting to cover her approach in more depth, it would be good in 2025 to highlight specifically how different timebanks use timebanking differently.
Our TimeBanks.Org Chats-On-A-Bench are held monthly on the third Sunday of the month from 4 pm to 5 pm Eastern US time. Here’s our standard format:
Timebanking Core Values: 1. All people as assets; 2. See, value and count as real work what it takes to build strong homes, families, and community; 3. Reciprocity -- Valuing receiving as well as giving leads to a community rooted in trust; 4. Connection & Kindness -- We all need them!; 5. Mutual respect -- underlies everything about our well-being on every front.
Note: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of TimeBanks.Org, TimeBanks, or Timebank members.