On joining, each member
makes a list of what she has to share - skills,
interests, resources - and what she needs or wants. These lists
are provided to all members and are the basis of a directory of
Womanshare offerings.
When a member wants a service, she consults the directory
and finds a person who offers it. The provider
then earns a credit that she can spend with anyone in
the group. The recipient is debited the same amount, a debt that
is cleared when she provides a service to someone else.
Womanshare tracks these hours and issues computerized
reports so people can see where they stand. All work time, no
matter what the exchange, is valued equally - hour for hour. We
are an economic democracy!
For Example:
Joan needs to have
bookshelves built. She calls Anna, who listed carpentry among
her skills. Anna does the work and later uses her credits
to learn bread-baking from Lynn. Now Lynn has credits she
can use, and so it goes.
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"My
favorite experience from Womanshare happened when I got
an opportunity to go on a free cruise. Everyone
dressed me in casual wear, beach wear, the long skirts
- all the cruise clothes I didn't have.
I
got my windows washed through Womanshare - that was almost
as exciting as the cruise."
Diana
McCourt in an interview, Co-op America Quarterly, Summer
1994
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"My
most frequent complaint as a working wife, mother, daughter of
aging parents and parent-in-law, not to mention friend to a beloved
circle of close buddies, is about the lack of time… But I have
found a solution: I now have 80 women of all ages with a splendid
panoply of skills to call upon at any time to help with tasks
ranging from repotting my plants to cooking my meals and ferrying
my elderly relatives to their medical appointments…. My secret
is an organization called Womanshare."
A
Busy Woman's Wish Come True from the column Feelings by
Myrna Lewis, New Choices , November, 1993
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HOW
IT WORKS
