Lifting One Another’s Burdens: A KERI-Native Community Service Marketplace

The Old Model of Help

Charity

• Giver and receiver
• One-directional
• Often anonymous
• No accountability
• No reputation building
• Dependency, not partnership

Informal Favors

• “I owe you one”
• Untracked, forgotten
• Imbalanced over time
• No way to verify
• Breaks down at scale

Volunteer Organizations

• Centralized coordination
• Burnout at the top
• Gatekeeping who can help
• Limited to organized efforts
• Reputation stays with the org, not the person

None of these scale. None of these build durable community infrastructure.

What If Help Was a Contract?

Not a legal contract. A community contract.

Offer: “I can help with X” Accept: “I need help with X” Disclose: “Here’s my situation / Here’s my capability” Attest: “The help was received / The help was given”

Every act of service becomes:

• Verifiable
• Reciprocal (over time)
• Reputation-building
• Part of community infrastructure

The OADA Pattern for Community Service

Offer

“I’m offering 2 hours of yard work this Saturday.”

• Who: Your AID (verifiable identity)
• What: Specific service offered
• When: Time constraints
• Where: Geographic scope
• Conditions: Any requirements

Accept

“I accept your offer for my property.”

• Matching need to offer
• Explicit agreement
• Both parties committed
• Terms clear

Disclose

“Here’s what you need to know.”

• Service provider: relevant credentials, experience
• Service recipient: scope of work, access details
• Selective: only what’s needed for this interaction

Attest

“The service was completed.”

• Recipient attests: work was done, quality assessment
• Provider attests: hours spent, work completed
• Both signatures: creates verifiable record
• Reputation updated: for both parties

Sometimes It’s Just a Visit

The simplest version of this is almost embarrassingly simple.

Someone posts: “I’d like a visitor this week.”

Someone responds: “I’d like to visit someone this week.”

That’s it. That’s the whole interaction.

No elaborate service description. No complex negotiation. Just:

• A person who wants company
• A person willing to give company
• A match
• A visit
• An attestation: “We visited. It was good.”

Why This Matters

Loneliness is an epidemic. Elders isolated. New parents overwhelmed. People working from home who haven’t had a real conversation in days.

The barrier to asking for help is shame. “I shouldn’t need this.” “I don’t want to be a burden.”

But in a community service marketplace, asking for a visit isn’t weakness — it’s participation. You’re creating an opportunity for someone else to contribute. You’re letting them build reputation. You’re part of the circulation.

Requesting a visit is a gift to the visitor.

The Visit OADA

Offer: “I’m available to visit someone Tuesday afternoon.” Accept: “I’d welcome a visit Tuesday.” Disclose: “I’m housebound / I just like company / I make great coffee” Attest: “We had a good visit.” / “We had a good visit.”

Both parties attest. Both build community reputation. Both gave something. Both received something.

It’s that easy. It should be that easy.

The Community Service Marketplace

Not a Platform — A Protocol

No central operator. No fees for being “in the middle.”

Just:

• A way to publish offers
• A way to find matches
• A way to verify identities and credentials
• A way to attest completion
• A way to build reputation

Anyone can run a marketplace interface. The protocol is the same.

Types of Service

Physical labor:

• Yard work, home repair, moving help
• Elder care, childcare
• Transportation, errands
• Cleaning, organization

Skills and knowledge:

• Tutoring, mentoring
• Tax help, legal guidance
• Tech support
• Language practice

Emotional and social:

• Companionship visits
• Grief support
• New neighbor welcome
• Community connection

Professional services:

• Pro bono hours
• Reduced-rate services
• Skill sharing
• Apprenticeship

How Reputation Works

Earned, Not Assigned

Every completed service interaction:

• Provider gets attestation from recipient
• Recipient gets attestation from provider
• Both build verifiable track record

Contextual, Not Universal

Your reputation for yard work ≠ your reputation for tutoring.

Communities define what matters:

• Reliability
• Quality
• Kindness
• Skill
• Availability

Portable, Not Locked

Your service reputation travels with you:

• Move to new neighborhood → bring your track record
• Join new community → show your history
• No starting from zero

The Economics of Mutual Aid

Beyond Money

Not every exchange needs currency.

Time banking: 1 hour given = 1 hour received Skill exchange: Your expertise for mine Pay-it-forward: Help received → help given to someone else Generosity credits: Community tracks who gives more than they take

With Money (When Needed)

Some services need compensation:

• Professional skills
• Material costs
• Significant time investment

The marketplace supports both:

• Pure mutual aid
• Reduced-rate services
• Full compensation
• Hybrid arrangements

The Goal: Circulation

Healthy communities circulate help.

Not: wealthy give, poor receive But: everyone gives, everyone receives, over time

The marketplace makes this visible. Trackable. Sustainable.

Trust Without Surveillance

Verification Without Exposure

You can verify:

• This person completed 50 service hours
• They have 47 positive attestations
• They hold a relevant credential

Without knowing:

• Their full identity
• Their address
• Their financial situation
• Anything beyond what’s needed

Accountability Without Central Authority

Bad actors get:

• Negative attestations
• Reduced reputation
• Natural consequences

No central committee deciding who’s “in” or “out.” The community’s attestations speak for themselves.

What This Enables

Resilient Communities

When crisis hits:

• Needs are visible
• Capabilities are known
• Matching happens fast
• No bottleneck at a central coordinator

Intergenerational Exchange

Elders offer: wisdom, time, experience Youth offer: energy, tech skills, labor

Both build reputation. Both contribute. Both receive.

Newcomer Integration

New to town?

• Offer service → meet people
• Build reputation → earn trust
• Receive help → feel belonging

No waiting for an invitation. Just start contributing.

Sustainable Generosity

Givers don’t burn out because:

• Their contributions are visible
• They receive when they need
• The system balances over time

Implementation Sketch

Identity Layer

• Personal AIDs for community members
• Credential for community membership
• Optional: verified skills, background checks

Marketplace Layer

• Publish offers (with selective disclosure)
• Browse/search needs
• Match and accept
• Schedule and coordinate

Attestation Layer

• Service completion attestations
• Quality/experience feedback
• Reputation aggregation (community-defined)

Optional: Coordination Layer

• Group projects
• Recurring commitments
• Emergency response activation

The Vision

A neighborhood where:

• Everyone knows what help is available
• Everyone can offer what they have
• Every act of service builds community infrastructure
• No one is just a giver or just a receiver
• Help flows like conversation — back and forth, natural, continuous

Not charity. Not obligation. Not transaction.

Covenant. Community. Contract.

Lifting one another’s burdens — verifiably, sustainably, together.

TODO: Add concrete examples, technical architecture, and pilot community design