The idea of not paying for haircuts, meals or massages attracted many people to join the Emerald Valley Time Exchange over the past three years. With approximately 100 members and steady growth, they are optimistic about this year’s future.
Time exchanges, which offer their members the opportunity to trade services instead of paying with cash, have thrived in this economic climate.
The list of current services offered by EVTE members include housekeeping, photography, errands, transportation, yoga, life-coaching, grant-writing, web design, meal preparation and fundraising, to name a few. Members also offer lessons in beer brewing, Photoshop, felting and disc golf.
LCC student Anthony Heinz, who has been an EVTE member for more than a year, said the primary service he offers is fixing computers and software tutoring. The hours he spent working on someone’s computer were logged into EVTE’s web-based time bank, where they accumulate until spent on a service offered by another member. He exchanged some of his hours with a person who had a truck to help him move furniture and haul gravel.
“It’s pretty straightforward. Like-minded people offer services for time. You give your time. They give theirs. It’s a positive social change, and I’ve met some really helpful, remarkable people,” Heinz said.
EVTE board member Sara Clark said the purpose of the organization is for members to exchange their various skills and talents. She said it is neither an exchange of products nor a barter system.
“A barter is between two people; they exchange only between each other. In the time bank model, the hour you spend providing a service can be exchanged to obtain an hour of needed services from any of the other 100 members,” she said.
Clark said an hour of massage was equal to an hour of web design. All skills are given the same value because everyone’s time is of equal worth, and the time bank is striving to create a caring economy of equality.
Hence, EVTE’s motto: “Weaving community through giving and receiving.”
“I got to eat last summer because someone came and put in a garden for me, and my quality of life has definitely improved,” Clark said.
Megan Hinkel, who works in the LCC testing office, said she joined EVTE in 2009 because she needed a free haircut.
Hinkel said she doesn’t trust banks and likes the broader philosophy of “getting away from a cash economy and using money less.”
Hinkel said regularly cooks for one person through the exchange because that person doesn’t have the time to cook, and Hinkel loves cooking. She has used the time-exchange services for cat-sitting, clothes-mending and running errands, among others.
Having a large network of acquaintances came in handy one day when she was walking home in pouring rain carrying heavy cans of cat food and cat litter bags, Hinkel said. An EVTE member spotted her struggling and gave her a ride home.
“It has turned my world into people I know instead of strangers, although I’m not really a hang-out kind of person. … I can cultivate friendships in ways that are comfortable. I like to cook, so I can do that and make connections,” she said.
Clark said many people like the concept but fear they don’t have anything they can offer. During the orientation process, she said, EVTE helps members discover latent skills and hidden talents.
Each new member receives two hours in his or her time bank just for attending orientation, and an optional monthly potluck offers members banked time just for bringing food.
Clark said different people join for different reasons.
The community spirit and making friends is important to some, she said, but many people welcome a way to get services without subtracting from an already lean budget.
EVTE board members are hoping this year to raise awareness in the community and to get neighborhood associations and nonprofits to join as an organization. Organizations receive an unlimited amount of hours, “a cloud of hours,” that can be given to any EVTE member that provides a service for their organization.
The organization’s members can join at a reduced rate, and this model increases the numbers of members, which will increase the variety of services offered to all.
For more information on costs, mandatory background security checks (EVTE mains a no-felon policy) and how to join, readers can log on to http://www.emeraldvalleytimeexchange.org.
