Staff Writer 

Scarborough residents Richard Beaulieu and his wife Joyce Rowland have the opportunity to go to the theater, stay at local bed and breakfasts and learn to play the piano, all for free.

Technically.

They are two of more than 700 residents in the greater Portland area who are saving money by donating their time through the Hour Exchange Portland program, formerly the Portland Time Bank.

“We do things we wouldn’t normally do because we couldn’t afford it,” Beaulieu said. 

The pair have collected more than 40 “time dollars” from baking pies and Irish soda bread, hosting sing-a-longs, giving piano lessons, translating French and helping with math and computer troubles since they enrolled in a similar program in Saco that eventually disbanded. The program grants them one “time dollar” for each hour they spend providing services for other members of the program, redeemable at participating businesses such as the Portland Stage Company, where Rowland said they planned on purchasing tickets for two “time dollars” apiece.

“You used to be able to stay in a bed and breakfast for 10 time dollars, which was a wonderful deal, but I don’t think they’re doing that anymore,” Rowland said. 

South Portland resident Roberta Bass said she earned upwards of 180 “time dollars” – which she redeems for massages and piano lessons – by arranging supervised playdates with the same youngster for more than four years. 

“When they were three months old I took care of them for three hours a week,” she said. “Then from ages two to five, I see them once every three weeks.”

 There are no limits to member offerings when it comes to earning “time dollars.” Bass said she’s also helped people organize their homes. 

“Everybody can do something,” Beaulieu said. “It can be as simple as helping somebody move or paint. I’ve made a lot of pies.”

Enrolling in the program is about more than bartering for services, however. Beaulieu said it’s one way she and her husband give back to the community.

“People like helping people,” she said. “It’s just a good thing all around.”

Time isn’t the only thing the Hour Exchange Portland helps members trade; Rowland said the couple donated bags of leaves to the Rippling Waters Organic Farm in Standish when he saw their listing in an “eblast” email sent to program members as part of a sustainable resource initiative embedded in the program.

“We had 25 bags of leaves and no idea what we were going to do with them,” Beaulieu said. “Turns out they needed leaves for compost.”

Unlike “time dollars,” setting up an hour exchange program isn’t free; Hour Exchange Portland Creative Director Lesley Jones said there are administrative costs to consider when starting a program. The Portland program has survived since 1996 largely due to funding from local philanthropists, she said. With members from as far as Bangor, Jones said the program was one of “several” throughout the state and about 200 in the country.

“One-hundred and fifty [members] is average,” she said. “We’re one of the ones that’s been around for a long time and is well established.”

The recent downturn in the national and global economy has contributed not only to an increase in membership for the Portland-based program, but Jones said they have received requests from startup hour exchange operations from across the globe.

“We talk to people from Spain and Israel,” Jones said. “People are definitely trying to get creative.”

Jones said the location of Hour Exchange Portland could have something to do with its success.

“It is something Mainers get. It helps to have a community with a lot of local concern and a well-developed creative economy,” she said. “It’s about more than bartering and I think people understand that.”

The foundation for the Hour Exchange Portland is solid enough to offer seminars for community members who are thinking of starting similar programs in their neighborhoods, Jones said. Would-be hour exchange program founders don’t necessarily have to think big, either.

“It could be just a group of friends, or as formal as you want it to be,” she said. “It helps a lot if you have a sponsor, which could be a church or a Lions group.”

To learn more about the Hour Exchange Portland and their programs, visit their Web site www.hourexchangeportland.org or call 874-9868.