24/09/2020
value added volunteerism
Time Dollars: A New Currency in Community Building
Building social infrastructure and assessing community assets have been key elements in past efforts to rebuild communities. Time Dollars add a third piece. Time Dollars are a currency to record, store and reward transactions where neighbors help neighbors. People earn time dollars by using their skills and resources to help others ( by providing child or elder care, designing, cooking, painting, teaching) people spend time dollars to get help for themselves or their families, or to join a club that gives them discount on food, or health care.
Time Dollars enable human beings for whom the market economy has no use to redefine themselves as contributors, and they give society a way to value activity the market economy does not. Time Dollars empower any person to convert personal time into purchasing power, stretching limited cash dollars further. Time Dollars reinforces reciprocity and trust, and they reward civic engagement and acts of decency in a away that generates social capital, one hour at a time.
Dr. Edgar Cahn.
