Homestead Skillshare Festival

The Bay Area Community Exchange Timebank promotes and facilitates the use of time instead of money in the exchange of goods and services, and through such exchanges we help to develop stronger, more, resilient connections between individuals and community service organizations which participate in these exchanges. Our goal is to encourage and improve communication and the distribution of skills and resources among our participants in order to help people meet their needs regardless of economic status.

The Timebank helps people meet their needs while encouraging community building and empowerment through a local and abundant means of exchange - time.

Every hour of service given to individuals or to community-based organizations that are members of the Timebank is credited to your account. These earned hours are then yours to spend on whatever Timebank goods or services you choose.

The currency is time and everyone's time is equal.

The foundation of the Timebank is a free, open source online directory, reputation and accounting system - http://www.bace.org

Additional useful Timebank info and resources can be found here, http://www.sfbace.org

The mission of the BACE Timebank is to:

•Build a more resilient, sustainable, fair and decentralized local economy based on relationships, trust and the sharing of resources and skills

•Building and maintaining an accessible, sustainable Timebank - an online directory, reputation and hour-based accounting system - that facilitates better communication of needs and resources and a more abundant means of exchange

•Strengthen community bonds to improve emotional and economic security by creating an interconnected web of reciprocal exchanges

•Developing partnerships with community service organizations to help make them more sustainable, to grow their programs without financial capital, and to promote the Timebank as a service to their constituencies

•Developing in person connections between individuals and with organizations through exchanges and complementary activities such as swapmeets, orientations, parties, skillshares, and volunteer days

•Encouraging the membership to actively take responsibility for their Timebank, participate in the Timebank volunteer collective and create their own Timebank groups, branches, activities and projects to advance community-driven goals, values and relationships

•Facilitate mutual assistance to meet the needs of all bay area residents, especially the economically underserved

•Reward volunteers at community service organizations with hour credits to make their important work more sustainable