Retired Senior Volunteer Program brings aid and holiday cheer to elders in need

They got the call in the afternoon on the day before Thanksgiving 2008. The man on the other end of the line — a veteran of World War II — told them that his heat had gone out. He’d tried reaching his landlord and the utility company with no luck. Everyone seemed to be gone for the holiday, he said.

Staff at RSVP of Boulder County, still at work despite the holiday, listened as the man explained that he didn’t like to have to ask for help. His only experience in getting help from strangers came from his contact with the Veterans Administration, he told them. It went against his grain to have to rely on others, but he had no choice. He was cold.

RSVP contacted a volunteer, who went to the man’s home to check his furnace.

“We found him trying to keep warm by burning things in a coffee can,” says Maureen Ewing, RSVP’s executive director.

Soon, however, the volunteer was able to fix the man’s furnace, restoring heat to his small trailer — and perhaps helping him to regain some trust in people. And it didn’t cost him one red cent.

RSVP — an acronym for Retired Senior Volunteer Program — has been providing free safety-net services to elders in Boulder County since 1972, utilizing the time and skills of more than 1,000 volunteers. The goal of the program is to help the elderly, as well as disabled adults, live more independent, secure and comfortable lives, as well as to reduce the isolation that darkens the days of people who can no longer get out to socialize.

It’s a big mission. Demand for RSVP’s services have grown dramatically over the past year as aging Baby Boomers and economic troubles combine, swelling the ranks of senior citizens who struggle to make ends meet. At the same time, corporate donations are down.

But the staff and volunteers of RSVP are determined to persevere, and they’re succeeding at doing just that. And it’s a good thing, too. For many of Boulder County’s low-income elderly, the services that RSVP provides not only make it possible for them to continue living in dignity in their own homes, but may even save lives.