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Time
Banking – An Innovative Volunteer Concept
Partners in Care, Inc. established in Maryland in 1993, helps
seniors remain independent longer by matching them with community
volunteers who will help with such things as transportation, home
repair, and insurance forms.
 But
the unique part of this program is that, while volunteers are
driving seniors to medical appointments, helping them make telephone
calls, or fixing a leaking faucet, they are able to “bank” their
time to draw out later.
What is Time Banking? The group’s
website, www.partnersincare.org, explains it like this: “It is an
innovative concept-in-action which provides an incentive for people
to get involved. Anyone who helps out will get help back from the
community when they need it. Everyone has something to contibute and
is valued for it. It is affirming and empowering.”
Examples
of Time Banking and Exchange are:
• A volunteer helps
someone read sort and read mail; in exchange that person can request
a ride to the airport.
• A volunteer works in the group’s
thrift store; in exchange that person can request a Friendly Helper
to assist with errands.
• A volunteer picks up groceries for
a neighbor; in exchange that person can request that someone fix a
computer.
“Our currency is time. We all have 24 hours in
the day - it's the great equalizer. It's the idea of social justice
and social responsibility. We can help ourselves and each other live
with dignity and independence, and we can feel a sense of community,
if we help each other. It's intentional reciprocity. It's very
powerful,” state organizers of Partners in Care.
The Time
Banking model is especially important in these times when agency,
community, and individual resources are stretched.
And when
a Senior has time in the “bank,” he or she is not so hesitant to ask
for help.
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