WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and SportsDane County Timebank is growing

Dane County Timebank is growing

MADISON (WKOW) - As the recession is growing, so is the popularity of Dane County's Timebank program.

The Timebank is a neighbor to neighbor service-sharing program.

As of Friday, January 29, the Timebank now has 1,005 members and has seen more than 23,000 hours of services traded in the 3 years since it started.

Here is more information about the Timebank and how it works:

Members of Dane Co. Timebank give and receive help in exchange for credits, or Time Dollars, they can spend to get help from any other member in the network.

BACKGROUND:

http://danecountytimebank.org

Timebanking is an exchange system. People help each other and receive credits for their service. Anyone who helps another member earns one time dollar per hour, which they can then spend on an hour of service from anyone else in the network. Timebanking is a way to value the work we do for others in our community and the work we do in building that community. Instead of going without things because we cannot afford to pay each other with money, we exchange time.

On October 20, 2005 the Dane County Timebank, in partnership with the Northside Planning Council and with support from City of Madison Planning Dept. and Dane County Human Services, launched a pilot neighbor-to-neighbor Timebank on Madison's Northside.

We now have 1005 members, more than 70 of whom are community organizations. From community radio station WORT to the Hancock Center for Dance/Movement Therapy, Grassroots Leadership College and Public Health Madison and Dane Co., our member organizations are earning and spending time dollars. They are connecting more closely with their neighbors and other community groups. Services range from transportation and babysitting to computer repair and music lessons.

As of 2008 Southwest Madison, Stoughton, and East Madison have Kitchen Cabinets (neighborhood-based steering teams), all being helped by the pioneers from Madison's Northside. In 2008 the Northside Kitchen Cabinet received an award for their work from Madison's City Council!

On Nov. 28, 2008, the Timebank opened a store on Allied Drive (2347 Allied #112) where members can get donated goods - from toys to books to dishes to clothes and even computers - in exchange for the time dollars they've earned helping other. Neighbors earn time dollars to staff the store.

The Dane County Timebank provides a tool to connect community members, organizations, and local businesses in a network of resource sharing and exchange. It catalogs the strengths and skills of people in the community and links them with each other to help everyone meet their needs more effectively.