Community Earners
A guide for neighbors who want to turn local skills and shared savings into steady, transparent income.
What an Earner is
An Earner looks at the money already flowing through a building—repairs, cleaning, child-care, event catering—and asks, “Could residents capture more of that value?” Earners help design ways for neighbors to earn stipends, bid on contracts, or launch worker-owned services that keep dollars circulating locally.
What Earning Looks Like in Practice
Stipended Task Roles
A resident earns $50 a month to manage meeting reminders—recognizing invisible labor and setting a precedent for fair pay.
Bulk-Buy Discounts
Neighbors pool orders for cleaning supplies, cutting costs by 20 %. Savings feel like an instant raise.
First-Client Co-op Gigs
A budding worker co-op paints the lobby at cost; the success story becomes its marketing case for outside jobs.
Earning with Higher & Hire Expectations
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Stipend Menu
A list of bite-size paid roles (note-taker, translation, floor captain) with time estimates and pay rates agreed upon by vote.
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Shared-Service Marketplace
Pre-vetted vendors and resident-run co-ops bid side-by-side, encouraging local hire while keeping quality high.
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Dues & Reserve Tracker
Live dashboard shows who has paid dues, who logged volunteer hours for credit, and how healthy the rainy-day fund is.
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Micro-Budget Templates
Plain-language spreadsheets translate big repair estimates into monthly per-unit savings goals, turning abstract numbers into doable plans.
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Credit-Union On-Ramp
A partner credit union offers fee-free sub-accounts and reloadable cards so stipends land safely and build credit history.
Earners keep Dollars Close to Home
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Lower Monthly Expenses
Bulk-buy cleaning supplies, shared Internet plans, or solar cooperatives reduce household costs by double-digit percentages. That’s real cash families redirect toward food, transit, or savings.
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New Paychecks on the Block
Stipends for roles like record-keeper or hallway monitor immediately add line items to household budgets. Residents who once volunteered after grueling day shifts suddenly see their effort rewarded and validated.
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Credit Building
Reliable stipend deposits and documented volunteer-hour credits establish a verifiable income trail. Over months, neighbors watching their credit scores climb become stronger loan candidates for car purchases or small-business launches.
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Seed Capital for Co-ops
A successful 10-unit bulk-buy is hard proof to lenders that resident-run ventures manage money responsibly. This track record unlocks micro-loans or grants for scaling into a full worker or multi-building service cooperative.
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Transparent Money Culture
Open ledgers and screen-shared statements dissolve suspicions before they fester. When everyone can trace each dollar from dues payment to expense, rumors lose oxygen and trust deepens.
Fill out the short interest form below. One of our Organizers will follow up with you to schedule the best date and time to discuss the various ways for you to get involved with Better Together.