Share Time, Build Community
Building Community One Hour at a Time
Join the Care and Share Time Bank in Columbus, Ohio, where your time and talents create a supportive network. Earn hours by helping others and spend them when you need a hand. Together, we build a stronger, caring community.
Monthly Potluck
6:30pm on the 3rd Sunday of each month
at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus
93 W Weisheimer Rd, Columbus, Ohio 43214
Attending a potluck can be a great way to meet folks and learn about time banking.
Bring your own place setting (plate, cutlery, cup, napkin)
Bring a dish to share and list the ingredients
Every other month (on the odd months), we play tabletop games after dinner. On the even months, we usually have presentations by community organizations in Central Ohio.
Earn hours for coming out and building community! And you can earn more time credit for coming at 6pm to help us set up for the potluck. Do you want to help more and earn credit? Write csgeneral27@gmail.com
Video from the Pollinator Potluck event on August 17, 2025
What is a time bank?
(4 minute explainer video)
Time Bank Service Examples
Tutoring and Educational Support
Share your knowledge by tutoring students or adults to help them learn and grow.
What can you teach? Anything! A language, a craft, a technical skill, or how to play Skittles.
Transportation Assistance
Provide or get rides for errands, appointments, or social activities to keep everyone connected and supported.
Help someone get to a doctor's appointment, or if you have a large vehicle, help someone who doesn't move something big.
Care and Accompaniment
Offer or receive care services or spend time with someone who wants company.
Give a caregiver a break or allow them to run errands. Take someone for a walk or engage them in friendly conversation.
Minor Home Repairs and Maintenance
Handy with tools? Share your skills in fix-it skills with neighbors who need help with small repairs or improvements.
Gardening and Yard Work
Help with planting, weeding, and yard maintenance while earning time credits you can use for other services.
Tech Help and Digital Skills
Assist community members with technology issues, from setting up devices to teaching digital skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of services can I offer or request?
You can offer or request a wide range of services such as gardening, tutoring, home repairs, companionship, childcare, transportation, technology assistance, and more. The goal is to share skills and support within the community.
What is the Care and Share Time Bank?
Care and Share Time Bank is a community mutual aid organization based in Columbus, Ohio, where members share their time and talents to help each other. Hours spent helping others are can be entered by the person who helped or the person who took the help, and those hours can be used later by the helper to request help from someone else.
How do I get started with Care and Share Time Bank?
Simply sign up on our website or contact us directly. Once registered, you can explore available services, offer your skills, and start earning and spending time credits.
Contact Us
Our volunteer time bank board president, Vilvi Vannak
Hourworld Website Support
Our Hourworld website, at cstimebank.org is the member portal for the Care and Share Time Bank. It is built with the free "Time and Talents" platform. Here you can track and manage your hours, offer services and see what others are offering.
Hourworld is a nonprofit that provides time bank websites to time banks around the world.
Help and Documentation
Membership
Join us! New Member Application Form
Watch a video recording of an orientation meeting
Check out the Handbook
Or email Vilvi Vannak, our president
Partner Organizations
Tutorial Videos
Hourworld overview (17 minutes)
How to record hours (5 minutes)
How to Record your Inter-Trade Hours (2 minutes)
How to enter your bio (1 minute)
How to set the frequency of emails from Hourworld
When you are logged in to the Care and Share Time Bank,
click the Account button in the upper left,
then select Edit Profile.
You will see your profile settings.At the bottom of the page, click the Notification Frequency picklist.
You can set your email updates from the CSTB to come immediately,
or in batches daily or every Monday, or select OFF to turn off email updates.See the setting here
Version 2 of the hOurworld Time and Talents platform is coming soon! (Fall 2025)
Orientation videos:
Affiliate Community Organizations
Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism (Cols Free Press)
Columbus Recycles
More About Time Banks
Some websites describe time banking as an alternative currency or as bartering. While not totally wrong, that misses the point. Time banks build community, one gifted hour at a time.
How time banks work (at timebanks.org)
The NPR radio show and podcast Freakonomics in July 2024 featured time banks:
Ep 599: The World’s Most Valuable Unused Resource Youtube link (audio only) Podcast link
Columbus Dispatch article about our CSTB
Older David Brancaccio PBS video about time banking
CSTB and Time Banks in the Media
Some websites describe time banking as an alternative currency or as bartering. While not totally wrong, that misses the point. Time banks build community, one gifted hour at a time.
How time banks work (at timebanks.org)
The NPR radio show and podcast Freakonomics in July 2024 featured time banks:
Ep 599: The World’s Most Valuable Unused Resource Youtube link (audio only) Podcast link
2021 Columbus Dispatch article about our CSTB
Older David Brancaccio PBS video about time banking
2019 AP story about Time Banks