Barn Raisers Time Bank: Building Community in Pittsburgh's North Hills.....and Beyond!
The Barn Raisers Time Bank is a time bank located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. Time Banking is a relatively simple, but powerful concept in which members exchange services without using money. For every hour you spend doing something for another member, you earn one Time Dollar. Then you have a Time Dollar to spend on having someone do something for you. It's really that simple - yet, it also has profound effects. Time Banks change neighborhoods and whole communities. Time Banking is a social change movement in twenty-two countries and six continents.
Barn Raisers Time Bank members exchange services of all types, including transportation, home repair and maintenance, pet sitting, massage therapy, mechanical services, child care, musical and arts instruction, academic tutoring, and much more.
Barn Raisers Time Bank members exchange services of all types, including transportation, home repair and maintenance, pet sitting, massage therapy, mechanical services, child care, musical and arts instruction, academic tutoring, and much more.
Our Story
In the wake of the financial meltdown of the past few years, members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills formed a Common Security Club. This group of a dozen or so folks met to talk about what effect increasing economic pressures have had on us as a society. The three main purposes of the group were:
Focusing on the mutual aid aspect, Barn Raisers Time Bank was launched in May of 2010 in the hopes of helping people to fill in some of the gaps in their daily lives and to help build community in the process. The goal of the Barn Raisers Time Bank is to encourage people to help others. As a benefit, they can use the time they donate to take advantage of someone else's offerings. By both giving and receiving, we learn the value of each member's ability to help and learn more about what we can do for those in our community. Every hour donated in our Time Bank is of equal value. Since we've started, our members have helped each other with rides, child care, home repairs, music lessons, and lots more.
- To learn together through readings, videos, and discussions to better understand the larger economic and ecological forces in our lives.
- To explore ways to increase our personal and economic security through mutual aid and shared action.
- To discuss social action on a larger scale to press for changes in government and our global family.
Focusing on the mutual aid aspect, Barn Raisers Time Bank was launched in May of 2010 in the hopes of helping people to fill in some of the gaps in their daily lives and to help build community in the process. The goal of the Barn Raisers Time Bank is to encourage people to help others. As a benefit, they can use the time they donate to take advantage of someone else's offerings. By both giving and receiving, we learn the value of each member's ability to help and learn more about what we can do for those in our community. Every hour donated in our Time Bank is of equal value. Since we've started, our members have helped each other with rides, child care, home repairs, music lessons, and lots more.
The Philosophy of Time Banking
"What kind of a world do you want to leave behind?"
Watch an interview with the brilliant Dr Edgar Cahn, social activist and founder of Time Banking, and take a look inside how a time bank in Vermont is working.
Watch an interview with the brilliant Dr Edgar Cahn, social activist and founder of Time Banking, and take a look inside how a time bank in Vermont is working.
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