43
Time Bank based on ‘paying it forward’ practice
By LINDA M. LINONIS
HUBBARD
Tony Budak, convener of Time Bank Mahoning Watershed, believes the organization epitomizes the practice of “paying it forward.”
Budak, of Hubbard, whose official title is chief executive officer, said the time bank revives and invigorates the practice of neighbors helping neighbors. The time bank formalizes the effort by recording the time given through a certain service into a data bank. A member can “spend” time credits when he or she wants to learn a skill or receive a service.
The bank brochure notes examples of services that members perform – escorting people to appointments, doing errands, dog walking, pet care, gardening, baby-sitting, teaching computer skills, cycle maintenance, stuffing envelopes, doing housework and car washing.
For example, when a member does an hour of housework or errands for another member, that person is credited with an hour in the database. The member can “redeem” the hour for a service needed. The time bank has 201 active accounts and 150 members. Budak said members have completed 61 exchanges so far this month, accounting for 143 hours of service.
“The time a member spends doing an activity becomes a credit to spend on something,” Budak said.
Dawn Dominic of Hubbard, a time-bank member, offered a couple of examples of her participation. She and two other women worked on a project of raising chickens at one member’s home. They shared and alternated the chores involved and divided the egg supply.
In other instances, Dominic said she wanted to learn to knit to make a hip scarf for belly dancing. “I connected with another member who taught me how to knit,” she said of the 83-year-old. “The bonus was that we became friends.” She said that she also plans to learn Spanish and wants to learn how to start a business.
Clare Puskarczyk of Youngstown, another member, presents a consciousness study on the connection between science and spirit and how it affects healing. She plans to use time she has banked to get help reassembling a piece of furniture.
She noted that the benefit of this type of community involvement has the side effect of buoying physical and mental health because of the human connections.
“Time is priceless,” Budak said. He noted that every hour is equal in the database. Budak said the process “records work and reinforces the idea that work should be respected and there is dignity to it.”
The time bank is described as “a community and network service exchange ... a collection of people and organizations who connect unused resources with unmet need.” Time-bank literature notes that it fulfills its mission “by promoting equality and building a caring, just and sustainable community economy through inclusive exchange of time and talent.” The bank notes its assets are its members, who all have something of value to offer. The process of exchanging services yields social networks that build support in communities.
Budak said when people come together through the time bank, it decreases “alienation, isolation and violence.”
Dominic said she was “intrigued” by the time-bank idea; participating has led to new knowledge, including how to make kolachi. “This fills a void, and the blessing is friendship,” she said.
Puskarczyk said, “The time bank promotes the feeling of community and knowing that support is out there.”
Kyrene Rodriguez of Liberty became involved through her mother, Tricia Floyd, who is a member. She attended a potluck dinner and “was amazed at the different types of people involved.”
Rodriguez said she has been lucky to live in neighborhoods where people help one another but realizes that is not the situation everywhere. “I grew up with the concept of helping neighbors,” she said, adding she felt families who involve their children show them how important care and concern for others is. “Children need this kind of connection,” she said.