At the Glen Cove TimeBank, hours are the currency, community is the payoff

Phyllis O. Burnett calls herself a “people person.” The retired utility company safety specialist missed the purpose and connection her work once provided.

In 2019, when Burnett, of Glen Cove, learned that the city was launching a time bank — in which members trade services using time as the currency, with one hour of work earning one time credit — she didn’t hesitate to sign up.

Since Burnett, a grandmother of two, began volunteering to drive local older adults to their doctors’ appointments, she said she has gained an unexpected community connection and a renewed sense of direction.

“I take pleasure in this,” said Burnett, who also anticipates learning the basics of crocheting and conversational Spanish from other time bank members. “You give care, compassion and time, and they give back gratitude in return. You create relationships instead of transactions because the currency is emotional.”

Burnett is one of 25 members in the Glen Cove TimeBank, one of roughly 500 such programs nationwide and more than 1,000 worldwide. Program leaders say time banks use shared time credits to strengthen community connections through exchange of services ranging from home repairs to cooking and companionship.

Though programs use the language of finance to frame service as something earned with time credits deposited and withdrawn, no money changes hands, and members volunteer as much or as little time as they wish while limiting out-of-pocket costs.

With a membership as diverse as the communities they serve, time banks vary widely in size, structure and focus. Many are made up of older adults, yet others center around communities that focus on adults or children with special needs, language and ethnic identity, prison populations and mental health, among others.

“Time banks are a fit for any community,” said Krista Wyatt, board chair and president of the Washington, D.C.-based TimeBanks.org, a global nonprofit that onboards, mentors and provides resources for startup time banks worldwide. “Our core values are reciprocity, respect, social networks, assets (everyone has something to offer) and redefining work (all contributions are valuable). It doesn’t matter your credentials, whatever you give, you can receive.” Glen Cove is not affiliated with TimeBank.org.

Wyatt points out that time banks are not bartering systems, where two members directly swap goods or services. A time bank member can earn credits by offering services like teaching other members yoga and use credits by, say, catching a ride to an appointment with another member.

AGE-FRIENDLY GLEN COVE

The Glen Cove TimeBank, launched in 2019 and run by the city’s senior center, is made up mostly of adults ages 65-plus from Glen Cove and its surrounding communities. Glen Cove has been designated age-friendly by Nassau County and the TimeBank is a partner of Hofstra University’s Department of Health Professions, said A.J. Kuhr, former director of Age-Friendly Glen Cove, a program that supports the city’s aging population.

“There are many volunteer opportunities in Glen Cove, and skill sharing helps to get people engaged and combat social isolation,” she said. “We get people excited to learn who their neighbors are.”

In 2017, Corinne Kyriacou, vice dean for administration for the School of Health Science and an associate professor of population health at Uniondale’s Hofstra University, worked with the city’s organizers to start up the time bank.

“We were looking to engage people across the city … they had the will, the [age-friendly] designation and the heightened awareness,” said Kyriacou, a co-author of “Equal Time, Equal Value: Community Currencies and Time Banking in the U.S.” (Routledge, $66).

By 2019, the program was up and running, but just months later, the COVID-19 pandemic brought member exchanges to a halt, she said. The initiative was slow to gain momentum, but the Glen Cove mayor said she is pleased to see that it’s once again operating.

“It’s [the time bank] such a benefit for seniors, who make up 21% of the city’s residents,” said Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck, who was not in office when the program launched.

FIGHTING ISOLATION

While time banks have been shown to “help older adults remain active, capable and empowered,” Kyriacou said, they also combat social isolation. “We need time banks more than ever because of how isolated older people are … alone and siloed.”

Christopher Christodoulou, clinical and research neuropsychologist at Stony Brook Medicine’s Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease, said studies have shown that social disconnection in mid-life and later years increases physical and mental health risks.

“A Harvard study of adult development began following a group of individuals over the course of their lives in the 1930s to find out what makes people flourish and experience well-being,” he wrote in an email. “One of the key findings is that good relationships lead to health and happiness. People who are lonelier … are less happy. ... Their health and brain functioning decline sooner, and [they] die younger.” He added that a “time bank might offer the opportunity to [older adults to] continue the activities of their former roles in some manner or learn meaningful skills.”

HEALTHFIRST TIMEBANK

Another time bank in the metro area is TimeBank by Healthfirst Foundation, a division of the not-for-profit insurer Healthfirst, launched in 2019 for residents 18 and older living in Manhattan, Long Island and the surrounding counties. The web-based virtual network serves 3,800 members, including 91 on Long Island, some of whom are insured by Healthfirst, said Allison Nidetz, TimeBank senior manager.

“Our core mission is social connectivity,” she said. “That is the most powerful way to combat loneliness and isolation [among older adults]. We become acquainted with the community, a church or a school and they provide entrée for us into a physical space. Then our members can volunteer for them in a pantry and give back. It’s all about expanding connectivity between and among people. These organizations are key for us to do that.”

For several years, TimeBank by Healthfirst Foundation has supported its community partner, Manhattan’s Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, by providing volunteers to sort, package and distribute meals to underserved area residents through its Human Understanding and Growth (HUG) program. Since 2019, Nidetz said TimeBank members have donated more than 3,000 hours to the initiative.

Jan Lindemann, chair of the HUG program, praised the group’s volunteers and said they fill a critical need by providing essential support services.

“It amazes me to know that there are people out there who want to give their time to help others,” she said. “In the world we live in, we see this less and less.”

For Susan Oh, 79, a native of China and a Syosset resident, TimeBank turned quiet days sitting home watching the news into opportunities to connect with other members.

Oh, who does not speak English, said through a translator that she participates in TimeBank’s guided meditation and tai chi classes via Zoom. Since joining the program, she has befriended several classmates, which makes her feel “personally enriched.”

“I learned how to use my cellphone and Zoom through TimeBank,” said the grandmother of three, who periodically volunteers as a substitute coordinator for several virtual classes.

SHARING SKILLS

Hsia Mei “Emmy” Chang, 73, an East Meadow grandmother of two, said she “felt lonely at home and depressed,” following the death of her husband. In 2023, a friend recommended she join TimeBank. Since then, Chang said the program encourages her to learn and use her talents to teach Mandarin to the many Cantonese-speaking members who wish to learn the official language of China.

“You share with people, and you get back. … I tell people about TimeBank, and they see me learning a lot of things,” she said. “People get a benefit from your contribution.”

Program leaders say time banks often face challenges when older adults are reluctant to accept help or retain pandemic-era fears about gathering with others.

Despite the hurdles, time bank advocates aim to raise awareness of the program and reach more residents to help strengthen connections within communities.

“Everyone has something to share and everyone has something to give. It doesn’t matter your age, culture or where you were born,” Nidetz said. “Everyone’s time is equal in time banking, and when you put it together, it levels the playing field. And as a result, life becomes richer and more meaningful.”