The Community Economy
HOW IT WORKS
Our Community Economy functions like a thriving forest ecosystem—where nutrients, resources, and energy continuously cycle to sustain and strengthen the whole. Just as trees exchange nutrients through vast underground mycelial networks, our members pool and share their collective value—skills, services, knowledge, and resources—so that they flow to where they are most needed and beneficial.
Instead of competing for scarce resources, we synergize what we have to create shared abundance through intelligent circulation, reciprocity, and trust.
Real Support for Real Needs
Our system is designed to help you meet practical needs while moving towards the healthy, equitable, and thriving world you envision.
From Where We Are to Where We Want to Be
The Holistic Systems community economy functions as a complementary system alongside traditional markets. We’re starting exactly where we are while building forward to where we want to go.
OUR MEMBER PORTAL PLATFORM
Check out a sneak peek preview of our new Member Portal that we’ll be using, starting in April!
Tools for Connection & Exchange
Just as a living forest ecosystem relies on multiple pathways to share resources, our platform offers several interconnected ways to give, receive, and create value together. Each tool not only serves its immediate purpose but contributes to building new patterns of exchange that are both more resilient and more regenerative than conventional economic systems.
Think of these tools as the fundamental structures that help our community economy flow. Together, these they create what biomimetic systems scientists call an “emergent system” – one where the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts through the complex interaction of individual elements.
Needs & Offerings Marketplace
At the heart of our platform is a sophisticated matching system that connects people based on complementary skills and needs.
Like a mycelial network linking different parts of a forest, this database helps you find exactly the right connections at the right time.
Whether you’re looking for collaborators, seeking specific expertise, or offering your own skills and services, this is where possibilities begin to emerge.
Commitment Pooling
This innovative non-monetary exchange system allows members to exchange their services and goods without relying solely on traditional currency.
A form of mutual credit created by Grassroots Economics and Will Ruddick, our commitment pooling system enables direct exchanges of value between members.
You can offer your services into the pool and draw on others’ offerings when you need them, creating a sustainable cycle of reciprocity. This allows the collective pool to become robust quickly without relying on large amounts of financial funding.
Community Contributions
In the same way that a forest ecosystem utilizes and treasures all the resources it receives – the sun, rain, nutrients from the soil, our community tracks and celebrates the various ways members support collective growth.
Through our token system, every contribution you make—whether it’s sharing knowledge, offering support, building community, or contributing financially—is recognized and rewarded. This creates visible pathways for value to flow back to those who help nurture our ecosystem, and allows us to pool and synergize all the forms of value that we bring to the table.
Whole Person Profiles
Taking inspiration from how organisms in a tidal pool adapt to constantly changing conditions by developing multiple ways of thriving, our member profiles capture the full spectrum of each person’s capabilities and aspirations.
Unlike traditional resumes that present a static snapshot of skills, these living profiles evolve with you, reflecting both your current offerings and your potential for growth. They reveal not just what you do, but how you prefer to work, what you’re learning, and where you want to develop—creating opportunities for deeper, more meaningful collaborations.
Join from right where you are
Everyone’s journey toward regenerative practice is unique.
Whether you’re:
- Looking to supplement your current income
- Wanting to align your work with your values
- Ready to deep dive into systems change
- Seeking community support for your growth
There’s space for you to start from right where you are to grow in the direction that fits your needs and aspirations.
Claim Your Place in the VALUE EXCHANGE
At HSC, we are building a new way of working and thriving—together.
Our community is based on trust, collaboration, and a shared vision for a more regenerative and equitable future.
Let’s make this vision a reality.