Inspiring News Stories
Excerpts of Highly Inspiring News Stories in Major Media
Below are one-paragraph excerpts of highly inspiring news stories from the major media. Links are provided to the original stories on their media websites. If any link fails to function, click here. The inspiring news story summaries most recently posted here are listed first. You can explore the same list with the most inspiring stories listed first. See also a concise list providing headlines and links to a number of highly inspiring stories. May these articles inspire us to find ever more ways to love and support each other and all around us to be the very best we can be.
In Kent, Ohio, older white women and immigrant families are forging unexpected connections through a time exchange network. Through time exchanges – sometimes called time banking – members earn time credits by helping others, then redeem them when they need assistance themselves. It's not barter, or charity; time banking emphasizes reciprocal exchange, recognizing that everyone has something to offer, and that we all need help sometimes. With over 530 active members and more than 101,000 hours exchanged over the past 15 years, Kent's time bank is one of the most vibrant in the world. Last year alone, members completed 3,900 exchanges through the original version of Time and Talents, a free platform. The ... interface is user-friendly. Users can track their time credit balance, and exchange private messages with each other about their needs and skills. Membership isn't limited to individuals – art galleries, businesses, and even governmental groups have requested volunteer labor in exchange for time credits. Rather than defaulting as a nonprofit with a formal board, groups might experiment with open organizing models where anyone can participate. Madison-based organizer Stephanie Rearick ... helped start a time bank in 2005, after she learned about it as one economic system of many in a book called The Future of Money. "I realized that time banking should address the things in our economy that most need to be addressed ... such as the degradation and devaluation of care and creativity, civic engagement and community work." Rearick sees common funds as one antidote to co-optation and collapse. Through them, neighbors pool money collectively to support shared projects and one another. After leaving the time exchange in 2017, she helped launch a common fund in 2022 as president of Humans United in Mutual Aid Networks (HUMANS), a global cooperative network focused on building a mutual aid economy. Time exchanges and common funds, she said, are just two tools of many that can be used for cultivating what she calls a neighborly economy.
Note: Learn more about the incredible world of time banking, where thousands of time banks have been established in over 37 countries. Explore more positive stories like this on tech for good and reimagining the economy.
