Stephanie Rearick, noted specialist in Time Banks and Director of the largest Time Bank in the U.S., presented in the atrium of Fall River Government Center on October 2, 2012. Time Banking is an alternative monetary system centered on the principle that time one spends performing social and civil services can be turned into "currency."  One hour of labor served equals one credit of time received, which can be used or saved for accumulation towards a service. The UMass-Dartmouth Office of Sustainability has secured funding for two Americorps/VISTA volunteers who will be working on Time Banking projects in Fall River and New Bedford over the next two years. Ms. Rearick was invited both to consult to the project and to describe how the system can work in Fall River and New Bedford to increase the resources available to populations such as under/unemployed persons, youth and seniors through the exchange program. There are hundreds of Time Banks thriving all over the world; the closest one to the SouthCoast is in Providence, RI.  A locally-available program will be developed over the next six months. For more information, contact Bob Bailey at rbailey@umassd.edu or Christoph Demers at cdemers1@umassd.edu or the UMass-Dartmouth Sustainability Office at 508-910-6484.