Madison Originals Magazine Madison Originals Magazine February 2012 | Page 41
MadisonOriginalsMagazine.com | 41 timebanking in the healthiest possible
way. This will include developing a
combination of TimeBanking (with no
connection to monetary value) and other
mutual credit modules that are more
business-accessible in order to nd ways
to make these tools more sustainable and
to generate more signicant economic
impact.
No matter what the form, Stephanie�s
projects are likely to involve operational
models that value all participants,
no matter how rich or poor. Her
commitment is to engage people who
don�t realize they have something to
offer as well as individuals with obvious
talent and skill. As often as not, the
exchange is around caring and care-
giving. But Stephanie�s reach extends
far beyond the Dane County residents
who have experienced TimeBanking in
its purest form�one to one. She has
trained scores of organizers from other
states and countries.
Similar principles rule three TimeBank
Youth Courts. In cooperation with
Madison Police and school authorities,
the TimeBank has adapted a model
where youth who are just beginning to
�get into trouble� can get a fair shake from
their peers. For example, if two kids get
in a street ght, through fullling their
Youth Court sentence they might be able
to avoid a juvenile record altogether.
The sentence is likely to involve anger
management training and service. Then there is the Coming Home project, where TimeBank members go
into corrections facilities and teach
meditation, nonviolent communication,
and other skills for living outside prison
walls. When men and women leave
prison, they can count on a circle of
support once a week to help them adjust
to community life.
The same TimeBank has a store where
customers pay in time rather than
dollars. MGE has helped the TimeBank
organize teams to weatherize local
homes, and people who don�t know how
to ride buses in Madison Metro can learn
how to get from one place to the other
with the guidance of other TimeBank
members. Some Northside Farmers
Market vendors have been accepting
TimeBank Hours for several years
now, and more than 100 community
organizations have joined so they can
offer and receive help without using
checks, credit cards, or cash to get
things done.
How do they do it? Chances are that
Stephanie and her various talents have come to the fore. Her serious, sometimes tough demeanor is tempered by a propensity to laugh at absurdity, and then comment in the lyrics of a song. One of her rst bands was called Your
Mom , and another was The Coma Savants .
In an interview on the Conscious Media
Network, Stephanie summed up her
unique blend of optimism and realism.
She quotes a friend who said, �The good
news is we�d all be better off with less;
the bad news is we�re all going to be
better off.�
It�s fair to say that Madison is better off
with Stephanie Rearick in the mix. To
hear Stephanie�s music or see the impact
of her work, visit danecountytimebank
.org, stephanierearick.com, or blog
.timeftw.org. You can also watch her
presentation at the Economics of Peace
Conference on YouTube. Rick Brooks is an Outreach
Program Manager at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison Division of
Continuing Studies. Photograph
provided by Stephanie Rearick . Home of the 20 oz.
Bone-in Tenderloin s &RIDAY