In August I traveled to New York and visited the Community Connections TimeBank headquarters in mid-town Manhattan. Launched in December of 2006 the Community Connections TimeBank is sponsored by the Visiting Nurses Service of New York, the largest non-profit home care agency in the US. The TimeBank boast over 2000 members and has the most diverse membership than any other TimeBank in the country. All the members call in their exchanges and a coordinator records them in a database. They have a large staff including outreach coordinators who speak Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish. They cover several neighborhoods in Manhattan and the five boroughs and offer their members discounts at local business as a perk to membership. All of it is managed by Mashi Blech (middle, pictured fifth from the left) a pioneer in the TimeBanking movement and a very wise and knowledgeable woman... she also makes a mean chicken parmesan. Her collaborator Ana Miyares was not there that day but she was missed. Ana spent many hours consulting our TimeBank back in 2008 and we owe her a debt of gratitude for her patience and kind advice. If you happen to visit New York, stop by and meet the Community Connections TimeBank. They are doing incredible work! ~ Autumn Rooney
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