Cville TimeBank

Blog

  • The Rites of Spring

    Are you one of those people with a long to-do list that nags at you like a little demon sitting on your shoulder, whispering in your ear: “Get away from that TV! Get up and DO something!!”?  I am one of those people (though admittedly, the TV is not my weakness, the computer is…).

    Well, help is on the way in the form of TimeBank! Among the many RIGHT things about TimeBank is the almost magical way that it helps you whittle down that to-do list.  Case in point: our Garden Mob yesterday.

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    Before the Garden Mob

    Emil and I have had a veggie garden in our backyard forever (it was actually there when we bought our house).  In recent years, with the kids grown and moved away, it’s been harder to muster the energy to clear it out in the spring.  Enter TimeBank and the problem is solved!  I rallied 3 happy helpers and in two hours our garden went from Weed Wasteland to Grower’s Glory!  Have a look at our before and after pics!

    Here are some tips on how to plan a Garden Mob at your place:

    • Set a date at least 3 weeks in advance. Sunday afternoons seem to suit a lot of people’s schedules. Two hours is a good, manageable chunk of time.
    • Post an announcement on the TimeBank homepage listing the day, time, and other pertinent info. (Join our Grubby Gardeners group and you can also post an announcement directly to other members!)
    • If you don’t get as many helpers as you’d like, go to the home page, click on offers, and then “garden/yard” and see who’s posted offers for gardening help. Contact each one with a message.
    • You might also (as I did) look through new member profiles and solicit anyone who looks like they might be interested, with a message.  Group projects like this are a great way to help newbies get connected.
    • Get back to your crew a few days ahead of time with a reminder letting them know your address and phone number.

    Day of:

    • gather your tools, compost/manure, seedlings

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      Snacks for hard-working timebankers
    • providing drinking water and a simple snack is always appreciated (see photo)
    • have a camera ready and take before, during and after pictures!

    Everyone feels a great sense of accomplishment after a group effort like this. You can really see results.

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    Anita, Lizzie, Lise and Emil

    “Mobs” like this are also a wonderful way to get to know other folks from the TimeBank!  Digging in the dirt together allows ample time for conversation. Lots of info and expertise gets shared while you’re rooting around in the… well, roots.  For instance a tidbit from yesterday: did you know that tilling isn’t necessarily a good thing for your garden??

    There’s yet another TimeBank bonus to this story: member Stephanie K. posted an offer back in February for help with starting plants for the spring.  So we’ve got little plantlets all ready to plunk into our soil!

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    Ta-Dahhhh! Ready for planting

    Big thanks to Wendy (sorry we missed you in the photo!), Lizzie and Anita for helping us get our garden ready for this year’s bounty.  Hooray for Spring and Hooray for TimeBank!

  • 2015 – A New Year, and BIG changes ahead!

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    Change #1 – No more membership fees!

    Now that we have two years of financial data to evaluate, we have a better idea of our budgeting needs. The surprise? Our expenses are less than originally expected! Therefore, we are happy to announce that we will no longer collect membership dues annually. We will still have expenses, but we have opted to rely on an annual donation drive to cover them.

    Change #2 – NEW member software!

    The Cville TimeBank is successful, in small measure, because of the Community Weaver website we have used to post service ads and to record exchanges. Created and maintained by TimeBanks USA, it helped us get off the ground, but as members have come to realize, the site is clunky and pretty awkward. Redesigns have been promised for some time but have not yet been published.

    Enter hOurworld, an online Timebank exchange site originally created by a TimeBank fan in Portland, Oregon, in 2006. Over the years, the software evolved with loving care by a collection of TimeBankers called Time and Talents. Many timebanks around the country have made the transition to hOurworld, and are thrilled with how easy it is to use, as well as the response from developers to continually improve and customize the site.

    The beauty of the software is its simplicity and intuitiveness. Listings are easy to find and exchanges are easy to record. Reports are a dream and communicating with other members is no longer cumbersome. And…. It’s free! In short, the Kitchen Cabinet representatives are completely besotted with this new software and the upcoming evolution of the Cville TimeBank!

    We are totally psyched about this change – and we bet you will be, too! Here’s a little peek into the new features we love, love, LOVE about the new Time and Talents software:favethings

    • Your personal homepage is now a cornucopia of details and direct action. Your hours? Front and center. Want to post a quick request? Boom! See all the newest posts by others? Right there!
    • Printer-friendly email statements of all your exchanges are a page away at the tap of a button.
    • Email members directly from the website and receive replies to your email. No more cumbersome contact issues when making exchange arrangements. (Can we get an AMEN?!!!!)
    • Create or join a group of members with a common interest and easily communicate activities and meetings. GROUPS! Knitters, Spanish-speakers, gardeners…. UNITE! 🙂
    • Exchange interesting work around the world with the Inter-Trade section of offers and requests in many other countries. Yup. That’s right. We said ‘around the world’!
    • At the bottom of your home page, the total number of current Cville TimeBank members, as well as the total number of hours exchanged to date, is always available.
    • Becoming a member is now as easy as clicking a button on our new homepage. Add your info and you’ll get a reply email with helpful information and an invitation to an orientation. New members still need to attend an orientation before their account is authorized.

    When?
    The big move happens January 15, 2015, when we will migrate all of our data and activity to the new platform. We’ll focus first on bringing out current members up to speed with the new site, and then our January orientations for new members we begin welcoming new members in to our spiffy new system.

    Want a sneak peek at how the new software works? click-here-to-play-video8-320

  • PIE & PLAY dates at The Haven!

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    **Pie & Play is on vacation until the Fall 2015**


    Social gatherings play a vital role in building a vibrant community. Potlucks, swaps, drop-in chats, and the like are important opportunities to network. Schmooze. Mingle. Chat. A single personal connection can open many doors, and when you consider that many of our timebank transactions are initiated online, it becomes even more important to make personal connections within our network of members. We realize that – like many things – member satisfaction with timebanking correlates closely with member involvement: the more you put in, the more you get out. It’s the nature of our reciprocal community to give when someone’s in need, and to believe that members will be available for YOU when you need it.   But it’s hard to ask for help from people you don’t know. We want our members to get to know each other, to actually shake hands, look each other in the eye, to converse – and to learn more about each other than their user name. So, starting this month, we’ve set aside the third Sunday of every month at The Haven for Pie & Play Days!

    • 2:00 to 3:00 pm – Sanctuary Stewards:   We asked our newest organizational members, The Haven, about ongoing needs at the facility, and we have been asked to help take care of the Haven Sanctuary with a monthly spruce-up session. Dusting and wiping down the gorgeous 200-year old pews and sills beneath the stained glass windows will really make the space gleam — and we hope you’ll come help! All cleaning supplies (and music!) provided.
    • 3:00 – 5:00 pm – Pie & Play!  We’ll move downstairs into the dining room for some playtime – and yeah, for PIE!  Bring a deck of cards or your favorite game – or join a table!  And if you need a reason to practice your pie-making skills, by all means –  🙂
    • 3:00 – 5:00 pm – Swap!  We’ll have a few tables open at one end of the room for limited quantities of good swap-ables – used or new – odds and ends that might be happier in someone else’s home.  Declutter your heart out!

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  • Community Swap!

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    Sunday, August 17
    3 – 5 pm
    Friends Meeting House
    1104 Forest Street, Charlottesville

    You never know what you’ll find at a swap!
    Bring a few things from your home that would really be happier living somewhere else — it could be CD’s, cookware, clothing, toys, plants, etc — it’s ok if items are used, but they should be in good condition.  How much should you bring?  A few things, or a lot — it’s up to you, but please remember that your swap offerings will be limited to about a card table-sized area.  Tables will be provided — it’ll be up to you to make a fun and inviting display.  And you don’t have to be a Cville Timebank member to participate!

    • Here’s how it works:
    • Doors open at 3:00:  swappers bring items to be swapped and claim their space to display their goods.
    • At 3:30, we say a few words of welcome, and start swapping.

    That’s IT!  Seriously.

    The magical thing that happens is that people not only share their stuff — they share much, much more. Stories are told. Friendships are born. It’s really quite extraordinary, and we hope you’ll come!  And if you brought a snack to share, that’d be nice. 🙂

    So save the date, and start cleaning out your closets!  Please invite your friends, and if you’d like to join and invite friends via the facebook event, click here.

    We hope to see you there!

  • Monthly meet-ups!

    lochlyn1Have you heard about our monthly #timebank meet-ups?  On the first Tuesday of every month, join members of the Cville TimeBank for an informal gathering at Lochlyn House, 480 E. Rio Road.    This historic property was recently purchased by timebank members Joanie and Dave, and it will be the site of Charlottesville’s EcoVillage.  Their dream is to establish the main house as a true community space — and have offered to host regular social events for the timebank.  We’ll alternate between morning and afternoon/evening times, and hope that your schedule will allow you to join us whenever you can — see the schedule below.  Please bring a nibble and/or a beverage to share.  No agendas – just valuable facetime with fellow timebankers!

    lochlyn2Tuesday, May 6  5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

    Tuesday, June 3  7:30 – 9:00 a.m.

    Tuesday, July 1  5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

    Tuesday, August 5  7:30 – 9:00 a.m. 

  • Filling in the gaps through TimeBanking

    From Cville TimeBank member, J., this wonderful testimonial to the power of community:

    “I sustained a traumatic brain injury in early 2013, and as is the nature of such injuries, I lost some processing skills.  In my case, (among other things) my math abilities regressed to about a 4th grade level.  Charlottesville does not have cognitive therapy resources available for someone able to function to the extent that I can, so when it was time for me to get back to working with my budget I was at a loss of how to take the raw data I knew I had and turn it into something useful.

    I placed a request under “Miscellaneous” for “help with basic logic” with the Charlotttesville Time Bank. Someone wiling to take time to explain basic concepts (and, perhaps more notably, have patience with my frustration when I would hit a cognitive wall and need to take a break from the task at hand) responded, and I was able to make notes as we went so with my newly forgetful mind, I am still able to refer back to them.

    Where there is a gap in services, there are Time Bank members with the ability and willingness to fill in.  Online tutoring was not an option, and leaving the area to work with conventional cognitive rehabilitation would have been expensive in both federal currency and in time.  Through Time Bank, I was able to get the help I desperately needed in return for giving rides around town to others.  That, my friends, is community!”

  • The Economics of Happiness

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    The Cville Timebank is co-sponsoring a screening of The Economics of Happiness at Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, 414 E. Main Street on Monday, April 14 at 7:00 pm.

    The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, an unholy alliance of governments and big business continues to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, people all over the world are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance—and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization.

    Transition Charlottesville-Albemarle is sponsoring this screening, and we hope you’ll join us for a wonderful event.

    [This was pulled directly from our Newsletter, which you can sign up for right here.]

  • TimeBanks on Virginia Conversations, NPR

    Timebankers across the Commonwealth took to the airwaves on Friday, 3/28, during “Virginia Conversations” on Virginia Public Radio.  Special guest to start off the show was Edgar Cahn,  of Timebanks USA.  Lots of great stories and questions from callers, and from Christina Cain, of the Staunton Creative Community Fund and (h)OUR Economy timebank in Staunton, as well as Kathy Kildea from Cville TimeBank.  If you missed the program, you can listen to the program here.

    Don’t miss a thing by subscribing to our newsletter right here.

  • TimeBank Discussions ON THE AIR

    Make plans to listen in when timebanking becomes the hot topic of discussion — not once, but TWICE!

    Friday, March 28   9 – 10:00 a.m.
    Virginia Conversations
    Virginia Public Radio’s May-Lily Lee will lead a discussion about timebanks in Virginia, and a special call-in guest will be none other than Edgar Cahn, the founder of TimeBanks USA!  This program will be carried on thirty NPR affiliates across the Commonwealth.  In Charlottesville, you can tune in to 88.5 or 89.3 FM, or listen online here.  Members are invited to call in with comments, questions, endorsements, anecdotes — let’s hear from you!  The number to call in is: 866-611-NEWS, that’s 866-611-6397

    Sunday, March 30  11 a.m. – noon
    Sunday Morning Wake-up Call   WNRN
    Rick Moore hosts Cville TimeBank co-chairs Kathy Kildea and Arthur Rashap for a lively interview with Rick’s 10-year-old nephew.  Listen in at 91.9 in Charlottesville, or online here.

    Both programs will be available for download and listening after the broadcast if you’re not glued to your radio – we’ll put the links in our next newsletter so you don’t miss them!

    [This was pulled directly from our Newsletter, which you can sign up for right here.]

  • Local News Coverage!

    Here in Charlottesville, the Daily Progress ran an article about the Cville TimeBank’s one year birthday.  These are more than just “feel-good fluff” stories: members are getting things done, saving money, and building community — one transaction at a time.

    Cville Timebank helps locals get something for nothing.