Even in the best of economic times, paying for a wedding \u2014 which can cost tens of thousands of dollars \u2014 can be difficult.<\/p>\n
But what if it \u2014 or any other service \u2014 only cost you your time?<\/p>\n
For one Allentown woman in 2010, as the country was emerging from the Great Recession, that\u2019s all it took, recalled Kathy Perlow, 73, a Bethlehem resident who has dedicated years to timebanking and wants to see it get some more investment in the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
The Lehigh Valley once had a thriving exchange, but participation waned during the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did an entire wedding for a timebanking member<\/a>,\u201d Perlow said. \u201cShe was a trained medical interpreter, and she had logged all her [timebanking] hours as a medical interpreter.\u201d<\/p>\n Timebanking uses time credits as a medium of currency, rather than money. Within the system, every hour is valued the same, regardless of who contributes the time. And when it is working properly, as it does throughout the world, timebanking can contribute mightily to a community, Perlow said.<\/p>\n Edgar S. Cahn, who once worked on civil rights and anti-poverty legislation in President Lyndon B. Johnson\u2019s Justice Department, is credited with establishing the modern timebank concept. Cahn, who died in January 2022, became a proselytizer for what he called the \u201ctime dollar\u201d \u2014 a currency in which an hour of work is worth an hour of work, whether it\u2019s performed by a maid, a mechanic or a mechanical engineer.<\/p>\n Years ago, Bethlehem resident Susan Schaffer read magazines to a patient at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation as part of the local timebanking community.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in exchange, I had someone help me with me my computer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the concept of helping each other, cooperating, socializing with like-minded people,\u201d Schaffer said. \u201cReciprocity is one of my favorite words, and this program is a perfect illustration. So that\u2019s what led me there.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lehigh Valley timebank started in 1999 as Community Exchange to address patients who were discharged from a hospital but needed support such as housekeeping and cooking. Sponsored by Lehigh Valley Health Network and funded by the Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust, it morphed, with LVHN\u2019s blessing, into a timebank to provide mutual help more broadly, and support residents\u2019 social health.<\/p>\n The Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley then hosted what was called the Neighbor2Neighbor program, but the nonprofit is no longer coordinating<\/a> it.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore COVID, it was good,\u201d Neighborhood Health Centers CEO Melissa Miranda said. \u201cSince COVID, it has been challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t gone away, according to Perlow, who serves on the Health Center board. But it needs someone to run it besides her, since she also serves on the national TimeBank board, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just need someone to do it,\u201d said Perlow, who is among area community activists who see unmet needs, such as stocking Blessing Boxes to help unhoused people in Bethlehem. She spoke to The Morning Call recently in the River Crossing YMCA Bethlehem branch after restocking food in a community box outside.<\/p>\n Ideally, Perlow said, she would like to find a coordinator who has community contacts, and who can maintain records and keep track of the shares earned and spent in a timebank. She also would like to see a coordinator for each of the Neighborhood Health Center\u2019s five clinics.<\/p>\n \u201cMy next goal is: How do I get the word out in the community?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Perlow knows about timebanking firsthand. She got to know Cahn through her work with the Lehigh Valley timebank, and learned tai chi mind-body practice for years for free by helping the instructor find free space to give lessons.<\/p>\n Another way of bringing back the concept, Perlow said, is including timebanking in disaster preparedness for communities, as a way of bringing together neighborhoods.<\/p>\n