One hour is one hour. Drive someone to an appointment. Bring a meal. Check in on a neighbor. The hour is recorded when both of you confirm it, at par — never cash, never for sale.
Join Your NeighborhoodDrive a neighbor to the doctor. Mow their lawn. Bring soup when they're sick. Sit with them when they're lonely.
Open co-op.care/hours. Say what you did. Your neighbor confirms it on the same phone. The hour is recorded.
An hour you gave is an hour you can ask for, at par. Or just keep giving. Care you give your own family is written down, not banked.
Whatever the help was, the time is what is recorded. There are no points and no rates: a night is the hours it took, and a ride is the hours it took.
Time, not skill level. A teenager mowing a lawn for an hour and a retired nurse checking in for an hour have each given an hour. Care is care.
The numbers above are an illustration of how the hours could divide, not a count of anything that has happened.
What it takes from a neighborhood: hours, written down honestly.
Three made-up neighbors, to show the shape of it. Nobody here is a real member.
Her husband died last spring. She doesn't need a caregiver — she needs someone to have coffee with on Tuesday mornings. David from three doors down started showing up. Each week, an hour is recorded, and Margaret confirms it. Margaret gets a friend. When David's knee gives out next year, the hours he gave are hours he can ask for.
When abuela fell, the whole block showed up. Maria drove to the ER. Carlos fixed the loose step. The teenagers walked the dog for two weeks. Nobody asked for anything. But each hour was recorded when the neighbor and the family confirmed it, so when the family's turn comes, the neighborhood remembers.
He started mowing Mr. Patterson's lawn because his mom asked him to. Then he started checking in on Mrs. Chen. Then he helped set up the Wi-Fi at the senior center. He's 16 and he has 47 hours recorded. He doesn't need them yet.
Tell us what you can offer and what you might need. The time bank itself is at co-op.care/hours.
We'll be in touch as the co-op's time bank opens near you. In the meantime, you don't need an app to be a good neighbor.