By Ward Peck
Editor
    The Greater Portland Time Bank is seeking to expand its membership by creating extension offices in Portland’s outlying suburbs. Heading the effort in South Portland and Cape Elizabeth is MeShell Jonka, a South Portland activist and Southern Maine Community College student.
    “There are several artificial boundaries in our service area,” said Portland Time Bank Executive Director Stuart Ray. “The [Fore] River is one of them.”
    Jonka and other members of the Time Bank are currently in the midst of an outreach program, holding several open houses at the SMCC campus and the South Portland Community Center. The next one will be held at the Main Branch of the South Portland Public Library. Jonka said there will be events all day, including music and a presentation by the Library’s director, Marian Peterson, who said she will talk about the concept of community as it relates to the programs and services provided by the library.
    Jonka has begun referring to the South Portland Time Bank extension as the “South Portland Time Capsule.” He envisions the extension will have its own administration and public use space somewhere in South Portland, possibly on Cottage Road. Ray said the exact details of how the extensions will work have not been ironed out, but before it can move forward, more people from the area will need to become members.
    In the 2000 film, “Pay It Forward,” a young boy attempts to change the world by doing good deeds then asking the beneficiaries of those deeds to do their own. As the title describes, the deeds are not paid back, but paid forward. If you understand the movie’s premise, you’re on your way to understanding how the Portland Time Bank works.
    The Portland Time Bank has been in existence in some form for the past 10 years and is based upon the concept of “Time Dollars,” created by Edgar Cahn in 1980. Time Dollars can be seen as a way to commoditize good deeds and favors. For instance, a person runs an errand or provides some other service for a member of the Time Bank community. For every hour that person spends performing that service, they earn a “Time Dollar.” That person then is able to use the Time Dollars they earn to purchase a service from another member of the Time Bank community. The balances of individuals’ Time Dollars are centrally managed using computer software developed by Cahn and maintained by a small staff. The central office performs other tasks such as compiling a directory of services members are willing to provide and assisting members in connecting with other members. Looked at as a market system, the market is the needs within a community, the currency is time and medium of exchange is Time Dollars. This market rests on two central tenets: Every member of the community has a skill or ability that is valuable to the large community and everyone’s time is equally valuable. An hour spent baby-sitting is just as valuable as an hour spent drawing up an estate plan.
    Time Banks work by synchronizing two often-competing interests: community service and self-interest. People wary of doing something for nothing can take comfort that their work will be rewarded. Those wary of taking charity can take comfort that the person helping them will be compensated. At the same time, neighbors are connecting to neighbors and community ties are strengthened.
    Majorie Stone a Time Bank member from Yarmouth at the Community Center open house said she has used the Time Bank in ways she never expected when she joined.
    “Initially I offered organic vegetables, soups and gardening assistance,” Stone said. “I haven’t done those things at all.”
    Instead, Stone said, she has provided babysitting service and helped get a schooner ready for launch.
Stone said she is surprised that the greatest benefit she has received are the personal connections she has made.
    “I took someone from Freeport that broke her leg to the doctor; she cooked a meal for us,” Stone said. “The exchanges are by no means reciprocal but you find that by doing an exchange you develop relationships. It draws people who like simplicity and the idea of building community. You make these connections and a small community is established.”
    Stone said that many non-profit organizations are also members.
    “My husband volunteers at Portland West,” she said. “All the hours he volunteers, he earns as Time Dollars.”
    Photographer Yvette Nadeau, a member from Portland, has done photography work for Portland Adult Education in exchange for Time Dollars. The organization also offers classes in exchange for Time Dollars. Cultural organizations offer tickets and even some businesses will accept Time Dollars.
    “My preferred use for Time Dollars is massages,” Nadeau said. “Recently I used them for a handyman who helped me install lights in my kitchen and replaced a light in my dining room.”
    And those dollars add up. Stone and her husband have been able to use Time Dollars for house sitters and excursions. Other services she has used include sewing and alterations and having an energy audit performed on her home.
    According to Ray, the ideal size of a Time Bank is 150 to 200 members. Ray said a community significantly smaller than that limits the variety of services and opportunities available. Time Bank communities significantly larger than 150 to 200 members are more difficult to effectively and efficiently administrate.
    Currently, the Portland Time Bank has roughly 800 members representing a relatively large geographic area, including roughly 40 members from South Portland and Cape Elizabeth. It also has members from Yarmouth, Westbrook and other outlying suburbs.
    Ray said the Time Bank is able to manage with the help of four coordinators, who allow the Time Bank to maintain the ideal ratio of members to administrators. But the geographic size of the Time Bank can be a limiting factor. People may be hesitant to drive from Cape Elizabeth to Yarmouth to rake leaves, or help someone with an illness run errands. Ray said the Time Bank has identified several “artificial boundaries,” people use to identify how far is too far. In addition to the Fore River, I-295 is considered another boundary. By decentralizing some of the administrative services within these artificial boundaries, the Portland Time Bank hopes to create more focused communities, while still providing access to the larger universe of services available throughout the Greater Portland area.