For the Love of Technology

I am ever so grateful to live in an age of technological connections. The ability to connect with others so far away, known so long ago, or who just would not have crossed my path otherwise, has been a blessing personally and professionally.

So much of Nurture has been built by way of connecting and communicating with others through the wonderful world wide web. Amazing networks promoting community and sustainability have been formed and continue to form in our hip and adventurous city (I am thinking specifically of the Timebank and Supportland, but there are so many others). Nurture's e-Village has been growing steadily and providing an e-space for connection as well as organization for future plans, and we have only scratched the surface of that site.

Technology, like everything else, has limitations and matters that need to be attended to. My family recently found ourselves in need of a serious technology upgrade, which has proved to be an, ahem, adventure to say the least. You may or may not have noticed and you may or may not continue to notice that Nurture's web-presence will be shifting to meet the ever-advancing progression of technology. Stay tuned, send good thoughts, and please be patient as we make some much needed changes.

We have so many exciting new programs and projects being created right now; I am really looking forward to sharing them with you, through our updated and fancy web structures, of course!

How appropriate that this just happens to be the 300th Nurture blog post. Cheers!

The Portland Time Bank - A Community Organization

The Portland Time Bank is part of an international, community-led organization that believes each person has a skill that someone else finds valuable. The basic premise is that members offer services (everything from accounting to massage to grocery shopping) and other members pick and choose what they need help with. Money never changes hands at the Time Bank.

For example, let's say you need a garden bed dug. You can post securely online or through a Time Bank Coordinator that you are looking for help or search out other members who list that skill. Once you find someone to dig your garden bed, you pay them one time dollar for every hour worked.

If it took the person 3 hours to dig your garden bed, then you have gone into "time dollar debt" by 3 dollars. There is no time frame for when you have to pay your time dollar debt off, but the premise is that you will then offer your unique services to someone else.

Now let's say that you offer guitar lessons and someone requests 5 hours of lessons from you. After those 5 hours you have paid off your 3 dollar debt and earned yourself 2 time dollars. And so the process continues....services provided and received without the exchange of money.

Joining is simple and requires no money, just a quick form to fill out and approval from the organization. Once you join you can request someone to sit down with you to explain how it all works or jump right in and start trading your time. If you would like to contact someone to learn more, email Jesse at pdxtimebank@gmail.com

Molly Fitzpatrick, Time Bank member since 2005, has this to say about the Time Bank, "At the Time Bank everyone's time is valued equally and everyone has something to give. If we all do what we love to do, everything gets taken care of."