Time Banks Along the River: An Hour for an Hour

A time bank is the oldest economy in a new form: an hour of your help earns an hour of someone else’s, whether the work is gardening, a ride, a repair or a hot meal. No one’s hour is worth more than another’s, which makes it quietly egalitarian by design.

Along the Rio Grande, time banks have taken root in several towns. The Taos TimeBank, a program of the Taos Initiative for Life Together, celebrated its first year around an outdoor horno; ABQ Hours Exchange serves Albuquerque and Sandoval County; the Santa Fe Time Bank grew to around a hundred members in its first year; and Doña Ana Communities United started hOur Time in Las Cruces. The reports span several years, so check each group’s current activity before you join, but the idea is as fresh as ever: strangers becoming neighbors, one exchanged hour at a time.

Sources: Taos TimeBank celebrates first year (Taos News) · ABQ Hours Exchange (GroundworksNM) · Santa Fe Time Bank facilitates exchange of services (Santa Fe New Mexican) · hOur Time, a free exchange of services (KRWG)