Author: timeexchangelb

Repair Cafe Fall 2018 Summary

THANK YOU to all who participated, volunteered, shared their skills and tools, baked delicious brownies (Iris) and attended our last Repair Cafe! And a very important thank you as well to those who saved and brought in their broken items instead of throwing them away! Over 70 broken items were brought in, of those 52 were repaired successfully, and another 13 were repaired to a degree and attendees also received advice from our experts on how to go about ordering parts needed to get their items fixed.

“Victor Santos was a great help, he really went the extra mile to see what the problem was. Unfortunately my Ninja blender was not fixable but my Kuerig still has hope. I hope to have the kill switch part next time when we come back so he can try to fix it again.” Rosa Delarocha

“Bruna repaired 6 of my clothes with holes – Thank you! She even reinforced some vintage clothing so it wouldn’t rip again. This is an awesome event, so helpful – very much appreciated! Nancy Woo

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Get Involved!

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GET INVOLVED!
Your Long Beach Time Exchange is growing and expanding and we are looking for members who would like to step up to leadership positions and help guide the TE into new and exciting frontiers. If you have always wanted to get more involved with your community, meet your neighbors, and be “in the know” for all things Long Beach, then becoming a Time Exchange Ambassador, Connector, or Educator is for you. See below for a brief description of each committee, then click on the link to apply!
Ambassadors Committee
The mission of the LBTE’s Ambassadors Committee is to increase awareness about interest and membership in the Time Exchange. Ambassadors do outreach by tabling at events, leading presentations, and community outreach. Members will gain a greater understanding of Long Beach’s diverse neighborhoods, community organizations, and events. You will have opportunities to develop your public speaking and community building skills.

We are looking for members who have the ability and desire to:

  • Communicate confidently and mindfully with diverse members of the community.
  • Adapt to different contexts and situations and show the potential time banking offers.
  • Speak from experience about using time banking personally, or through an organization.

Key areas of team’s responsibility:

  • Developing criteria and strategies for outreach.
  • Coordinating and taking part in outreach opportunities (tabling at events, canvassing, presentations to neighborhood groups, organizations, etc.)
  • Contacting other LBTE members who might be interested in helping out and getting involved.

What you’ll gain:

  • Learning more about Long Beach geography, residents, community organizations, and groups.
  • Developing and practicing public-speaking skills
  • The satisfaction of making a tangible impact by expanding the time-banking movement in Long Beach

Time commitment: 4-8 hours per month spent representing LBTE at community events and meetings, or conducting outreach one-on-one’s.  Terms are 1 year with possible renewal.

To apply, click here to view and fill out the application.

Community Connectors Committee
While Ambassadors bring in new members, the mission of the Community Connectors is to help increase exchanges between existing members. Our recent Dare to Share campaign was born in this committee. Connectors brainstorm ways to make it easier for members to connect, share and exchange, as well as welcome new members. You will gain a greater understanding of time-banking along with the satisfaction of helping members connect with one another.

We are looking for members who love to help others connect, and:

  • Are good listeners
  • Have the ability to communicate confidently and mindfully with diverse members of the community
  • Are ONE (or more) of the following:
    • Tech savvy; OR
    • Great face-to-face communicators; OR
    • Skilled on-the-phone communicators; OR
    • Have strong writing and editing skills

Key areas of team’s responsibility:

  • Developing strategies for connecting members to one another, including helping members with:
    • Posting and searching for offers and requests in hOurworld
    • Finding matches in the network
    • Navigating operating system so offers/requests are posted and current
    • Providing orientation to new members
    • Helping offline members stay active and informed

What you’ll gain:

  • A good sense of the assets and needs in the community
  • The satisfaction of making helpful matches for members who might not have been able to connect otherwise.

Time commitment: 4-8 hours per month spent helping members connect to one another, making phone calls and helping to welcome new members. Terms are 1 year with possible renewal.
To apply, click here to view and fill out the application.

Learning Committee
The Learning Committee is responsible for planning and launching workshops and events for members and the community. Committee members create multi-cultural spaces/events where learning, connectivity and sharing can take place; cooking classes, wellness, art, and small community potlucks are a few examples of the events this committee would lead. You will gain event planning experience and the satisfaction of helping others bring their gifts to a wider audience.

 

We are looking for members who have the ability or desire to:

  • Bring people together to learn about various topics
  • Create multi-cultural spaces/events where learning, connectivity and sharing can take place
  • Have experience in writing press releases and/or social media
  • Event planning/logistics experience

Key areas of team’s responsibility:

  • Planning and coordinating groups exchanges, community/learning events and LBTE quarterly gatherings
  • Identifying topics for workshops/learning events
  • Finding individuals to teach workshops and volunteers

What you’ll gain:

  • Event planning experience
  • The satisfaction of creating a learning space and seeing what connections are made there and beyond, including your own.

Time commitment: 4-8 hours per month spent representing LBTE at community events and meetings, or conducting outreach one-on-one’s.  Terms are 1 year with possible renewal.

To apply, click here to view and fill out the application.

 

Be a part in growing the time exchange! Become an Ambassador, Connector or Educator and share your voice, your vision, and your energy with our community!
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Micky Salatino:
lbtimeexchange@gmail.com
562-786-6081

Repair Cafe Results!

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  • Great collaborations with the LB Main Public Library, The Studio MakerSpace and Squeeze Art Collective!
  • Total of 63 repairs were worked on!
  • 13 volunteer experts/repairers plus 7 general volunteers, and 3 library staff!
  • Total volunteer hours: 88.75!

LB’s First Repair Café Reduced Waste, Built Connections

On May 14th, the Long Beach Time Exchange, Squeeze Art Collective, The Studio / Maker Space and the Long Beach Public Library held a successful first Repair Café!

13 volunteer repairers completed over 60 repairs on items including jewelry, electronics, clothes, and bikes.

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Here’s what participants had to say:

“Excellent! The volunteer repairman Rosendo was very helpful, nice and he spoke Spanish!”

“Coby fixed my CD player! I’m very happy! Christina was very helpful, as was Chris who epoxied my belt buckle! Yea!”

“This is really awesome! It’s great for a community to come together and help people out, impacting their community.”

“This was good: because we had an opportunity to bring our items to be repaired by people who we can trust.”

In addition to the repairers, the event was well staffed with volunteers earning time credits for their efforts. While the next Repair Café is not yet scheduled, the Time Exchange will inevitably host another, and plans to incorporate repair stations in its upcoming Summer Gathering on August 21st. Stay tuned for more details by following the LBTE event page or our Facebook.

Also, if you participated in the event and would like to offer any feedback, please click here.

Dare to Share Challenge

The Dare to Share Exchange Challenge is a fun way to encourage members to get active in time banking again. All members are invited to participate. The member with the most points will be recognized at our Summer Gathering and receive a special prize.

Here’s what you need to know to get started.

First – make sure your hOurworld profile is up to date. (Remember: you’ll earn a point for logging on and updating.)

Ways to earn points:

Member to Member Exchanges (MM)

These are exchanges between individual members, not organizations. For example: Sarah needs help preparing her garden for summer. She posts a request on hOurWorld. Mike sees the requests, contacts Sarah and says, “I can help.”  Mike spends 3 hours one Saturday afternoon helping Sarah with her garden. He earns 3 time credits to “spend” on other services AND both Mike and Sarah get 1 point towards the Challenge. Added bonus: Mike met some really cool folks that Saturday.

Member to Organization Exchanges (MO)

Your LBTE has over 50 affiliated member organizations. Every time you volunteer (exchange) with an organization you earn hour for hour time credit, plus 1 point towards the Challenge. Example: Jason volunteers at Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition (LBIRC) twice a week for 2 hours. Each week LBIRC logs 4 hours to his Time Bank, and Jason gets 2 points towards the challenge.

Help us with the exchange challenge

Got an exchange experience you’d like to share? We are collecting member testimonials (like the one above) on time banking to help promote the event, as well as pictures of your exchange in action. Send us an email to submit your story and earn an extra point!

The picky details:

 Only exchanges completed during the Exchange Challenge (May, June, July) will count towards the winning total.

 Members are responsible for logging their own exchanges. Remember, EITHER party can log the exchange.  If you need assistance, please contact us.

 Please make sure LBTE has your correct email and phone number.

 Exchanges completed but NOT logged onto hOurworld cannot count towards the challenge.

Questions? Contact us! lbtimeexchange(at)gmail.com | 562 786 6081