Joan Black took a serious tumble two years ago, climbing up on a stepladder to reach for a punchbowl. She was about to host one of her frequent patio parties for a regional theater company in Montpelier, Vermont. Ms. Black had been doing quite well in her ground-floor apartment downtown. But the fall broke a vertebra, and since then she’s had trouble walking and standing for any extended period. Living on Social Security payments since the recession plundered her savings, she couldn’t afford to hire helpers. “Seeing things in my life go downhill became very depressing,†said Ms. Black, now 80. Through the local timebank, Cara Barbero, who lives a block or so away, began showing up to shovel snow for Ms. Black, often before dawn. “I get up in the morning, and the path is already cleared and salted and the car is cleaned off, and I can get out and go,†Ms. Black said. - Onion River Exchange, Vermont https://orexchange.timebanks.org/ . #timebankingis #community #50storiesin50days #timebanks #story #timeasmoney #receivinghelp
A post shared by TimeBanks USA (@timebanksusa) on
