Who Is Involved

"Building Inclusive Communities in Seattle"

Fremont Time: Inclusive by Design

Fremont Time was developed to bring people together in a neighborhood known for its creativity. The idea came from the Fremont Neighborhood Council's experiences with the Neighborhood Support Project. Catholic Community Services had funded the Neighborhood Council to identify local groups where neighbors with developmental disabilities could get involved and contribute. The Neighborhood Support Project hired Joanne, a Fremont resident, to get to know her neighbors with disabilities. She got advice from members of the Fremont Neighborhood Council about neighborhood people and organizations who would be good to introduce to neighbors with disabilities. Connections were made between persons with disabilities and neighborhood groups. But Joanne and others involved with the Neighborhood Support Project discovered that those connections were not maintained without her active assistance.

Michael, then-president of the Fremont Neighborhood Council, wanted to establish something more permanent to sustain Fremont's inclusion efforts. Along with other active community members, he applied to the Neighborhood Matching Fund and created Fremont Time, a neighborhood service exchange network in which neighbors exchange skills and, in the process, build positive, enriching relationships and a stronger community.

Fremont Time shares the premise of Involving All Neighbors, that everyone has abilities of value to other community members. Fremont Time recruits participants, helps them identify and catalogue their skills, matches participants, and keeps records of participation. Anyone is eligible to give and receive services, and everyone's contribution is valued equally: one hour of landscape design is worth one hour of tap dance lessons, babysitting, meal preparation, jazz-club tours, resume writing, car maintenance, rides to the clinic - you name it. Participants trade with 'the bank' instead of each other, so they can perform a service for one person while receiving a service from someone else.

Fremont Time has always had an Inclusion Committee, one of the Board of Directors' standing committees. The committee helps the organization focus on its mission of including persons with disabilities and other community members who may need some help to get and stay involved in Fremont Time. Many of the committee members have a personal interest in building a more inclusive neighborhood association. Some have a disability, some have a friend with a disability, and some are hired to find community support for persons with disabilities. Other members simply believe that inclusiveness is a better way to live.

One example of Fremont Time's benefits is the story of Bitten and Martha. They got to know each other because of Fremont Time. Martha got Bitten's name from the other Fremont Time members as someone who could help her organize her messy room. But they quickly found out that they both loved art and enjoyed one another's company. Martha and Bitten regularly create cards together, attend art exhibits, and get together with each other's friends.

Another example is Randy and Don. They have been exchange partners for four years. They do projects together that require lifting, like helping someone move. They are also a cleanup crew. Don often goes to Randy's house to listen to him play his drums.

Dan and Keith, another example, work together as paint scrapers. Don and Deanne, yet another Fremont Time example, volunteer at a local elementary school, helping with office work, preparing displays, or cleaning up after PTSA family night potlucks.

In each of these examples, one of the partners has a developmental disability, each partner helps the other get a task done, and each partner has developed a new friendship.

Learn more about the strategy used.