Time Dollars

Time Dollars, Edgar Cahn and Jonathan Rowe, Rodale Press, 1992

Time Dollars is a concept that is reviving the spirit of volunteering in America.

Here's an example of how it works. Mary, an elderly person doesn't get around very well, but every day she has a list of other elderly people that she calls on the phone. She calls mostly to gab, but also to make sure that the other person is eating and taking their medicine, and to let them know they haven't been forgotten. Mary reports her hours to the "office" where everyone's hours are tracked on computer. For each call, Mary gets a Time Dollar, to use when she needs help. Each week, Bill drives Mary to the grocery store. Mary uses a Time Dollar and Bill gains one, to be used to get his lawn mowed or his walk shoveled. On and on and on it goes.

The program exists statewide in Michigan and Missouri, and in cities including Ithaca, New York and Miami. The original intent was as a help-the-elderly program, but it doesn't have to stay that way. It can be townwide, and include local stores willing to accept partial payment in Time Dollars, or it can be reduced in scale to just a senior citizens center or condo complex.

This book does a really good job at answering all the questions proponents or opponents might have about Time Dollars. Here is an inspiring look at how to use a vast untapped resource in this society.