Ithaca Hours & The Church
Maybe I have been in a cave for the last 10 years, but Ithaca Hours is new to me. If that name means nothing to you either, here is the low-down.
Ithaca Hours is a local currency system that promotes local economic strength and community self-reliance in ways which will support economic and social justice, ecology, community participation and human aspirations in and around Ithaca, New York. Ithaca Hours help to keep money local, building the Ithaca economy.
I love this concept, and wonder if the church could adopt something like this. People giving of there talents to help those in need, and being rewarded by trades of service. Let me explain how I see this working.
- Churches work with non-profits. They open up their volunteers and buildings.
- Designers handle all marketing, free of charge.
- Programmers handle all web programming, free of charge.
- Printers handle all printing, at cost.
- All involved record time and trade time in services.
I know this is imperfect, but to me this could become something great. It helps the Christian creative community network, and it encourages the creative community and churches to do good with the talents and resources God has given them. I would love to try something like this out on a small scale, for one project. If you are or know of a church, programmer, or printer wanting to help, contact me. And if you are interested in this idea, lets talk.
4 Responses to “Ithaca Hours & The Church”
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I haven’t heard of that but that’s a great idea! I love ideas that get the church at the center of local communities and weave themselves into the fabric of people’s lives.
I’m filing this idea away in my future ideas file.
Brad Ruggles // http://www.bradruggles.com
Very interesting idea! I don’t exactly get how this works. They work for each other for free? Trading services? What’s teh benefit of this? I mean, it sounds really cool, and I love community stuff like this, so I’m curious - I just don’t get it.
Check out Fourth Corner Exchange, who’s home base is here in Bellingham, WA. They use a “time dollar” system, though they’re changing it to “Life Dollars.”
Vision: “A world of economic freedom and justice for all, where all communities have access to a fair and equitable universal medium of exchange, issued by the people in sufficiency to meet their own needs and the needs of their communities.
Our mission is to create this world of economic democracy by rebuilding our communities through teaching people how to use our community currency in a socially just and responsible manner.”
Very cool. A friend of mine said B’ham was going to start that, but I never heard much about it. I would love to be apart of this. I do live in Lynden though, that is one strike against me.