Barbara Gard of Amesbury explains the TENS concept as TENS founder, Marcel Charpentier provides additional details.
Have time and talents not being utilized? Need some work done around the house but it is beyond your skill set and budget constraints prevent hiring someone? An organization coming to greater Newburyport is offering a way to specialize – offering your services in trade for those of others.
Time Exchange of the North Shore (TENS), a Local Employment Trading Systems (LETS) organization founded over a decade ago, is starting recruitment efforts in the greater Newburyport area. Members join at no cost, list services they would like to offer to other member to earn “time dollars.” A time dollar is an hour of service, regardless of the type of service. Time dollars are earned, tracked and spent on a one-for-one basis among members.
Marcel Charpentier, the founder of TENS, presented Community You Can Bank On at the First Parish Church of Newbury to explain the concept and assist Barbara Gard in coordinating recruitment efforts in the greater Newburyport area. TENS is already active with over 175 members in Lynn, Peabody, Saugus, and Beverly, and is seeking to expand. Marcel explained that the TENS mission is “to build community through neighbors helping neighbors, exchanging skills and talents.”
Barbara Gard, TENS coordinator for Greater Newburyport, takes questions from attendees.Some of the types of activities that are most popular for earning and spending time dollars include: rides to Logan Airport, running errands, yard work, babysitting, dog walking and tutoring. In addition, there are frequent offers and seekers for services such as plumbing, electrical work, painting and other home improvement tasks. Marcel offers a unique service of organizing pictures and creating slideshows for various members’ special occasions. While most members are individuals, TENS welcomes organizations and businesses to join as well.
While new to Newburyport, the concept of time banks is not new in Massachusetts or indeed, around the world. In fact there are time banks already active in Cape Ann, Jamaica Plain, and Cambridge as well as the 10+ year old TENS. Different groups have different rules for membership. Some time banks charge membership fees and some restrict the geographic service area. TENS does not charge to become a member and is not “geographically exclusive” – e.g. one need not live or work on the North Shore to join or participate. In addition, there are no restrictions regarding joining more than one time bank, however time dollars are not transferable between/among organizations.
To become a member of TENS, go online and fill out an application and provide two references. Lauren Kilcoyne, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer who is serving as TENS’ temporary coordinator, will contact references then invite prospects to attend a new member orientation. At the orientation, new members receive the TENS Handbook and learn about the five Core Values:
- Assets: We are all assets. Every human being has something of value to contribute.
- Equality: The heart of a Time Dollar is equality. One hour of service equals one credit, regardless of the service and all people are valued equally.
- Reciprocity: Helping works better as a two way street… The question “How can I help you?” needs to change so we ask: “How can we help each other build the world we both will live in?”
- Redefining work: Some work is beyond price. Work must be redefined to include whatever it takes to revitalize neighborhoods and families, to make democracy work and to advance social justice. This kind of work needs to be honored, recorded and rewarded.
- Respect: Everyone matters! We must respect, honor, and meet people where they are.
After attending the orientation, new members are welcome to participate and are permitted to run a five time dollar deficit to get started. When asked by a member of the audience if there were a lot of problems with people running long-standing deficits in the TENS bank, Marcel noted that, “Giving is plentiful – taking is difficult,” meaning that most people involved are very solvent regarding their time dollar balance and they have not run into any problems at all of this nature. Nor have they ever had a liability and exposure protection issue. But to that end, TENS carries volunteer insurance that provides coverage from the time someone leaves the house to perform a TENS-related service to when they return.
In responding to other questions, Marcel noted that TENS is a registered charitable organization (501 c 3), is seeking ways to conduct Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) reports for babysitting and tutoring services provided to children, and noted that “barter” is not an accepted terminology for these kinds of exchanges; it is considered helping your neighbor by the IRS and thus, not taxable. As explained on the TENS FAQ, time banking is not bartering because:
1. It is not tied to a cash value
2. It is based on the currency of time, so one time dollar = 60 minutes
3. It is not generally an exchange, like barter, between two people but between a network of people. You may not earn and spend with the same person, you might, but you might not.
4. It is not a contractual agreement, but recognized as a friendly favor.
The presentation was organized by Transition Newburyport, New Eden Collaborative, and the First Parish Church of Newbury.
To get involved or to get more information, please visit the TENS website or contact local coordinator Barbara Gard. To learn more about the time exchange concept and movement, please visit YES Magazine, ‘Time Banks‘ Exchange Work, Not Cash and www.timebanks.org.
