Community Service Society - Community Service Society of New York - fighting poverty, shaping public policy, helping NYCRetired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)

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The Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) was created by CSS as a pilot program in 1966. Over the past 42 years, the program has been replicated nationally and internationally. RSVP’s mission is two-fold: providing meaningful, invigorating opportunities for older adults and helping nonprofit organizations in New York City reach more clients and provide more services. RSVP deploys 7,000 older adult volunteers at 500 nonprofits throughout New York City, and its volunteers are reflective of the unique diversity of cultures throughout the five boroughs. Their volunteer activity enhances and extends the services that community-based organizations provide to their client base at soup kitchens, food pantries, thrift shops, adult literacy, and English as a Second Language projects.

Recent years have shown a great increase in the older adult population as a large number of baby boomers begin to enter their ranks. This new generation of older adults tends to be extremely well-educated and highly skilled and they bring extensive resources and professional experience to community service. RSVP has developed many opportunities to deploy baby boomers in professional and leadership positions, both in direct service to their communities and as technical advisors/consultants to the nonprofits with whom it partners.

Building on the CSS research and advocacy agenda in the areas of disconnected youth and prisoner reentry, RSVP has developed two intergenerational mentoring programs and a criminal record repair program. MentorCHIP, a site-based mentoring program serving children of incarcerated parents, and MentorUP, a site-based mentoring program serving at-risk children and adolescents, promote youth development through intergenerational relationships aimed at strengthening the internal and external assets of the clients through the use of age appropriate activities such as academic enrichment, writing and building of asset portfolios. These activities build the cognitive learning, academic confidence, and social skills needed to be productive in school and in life.

In the area of prisoner reentry, RSVP has developed a Record Repair Counseling Program to assist clients in understanding and managing their criminal histories as they seek employment and housing. Statistics show that nearly 90 percent of criminal records contain at least one error. This can serve as a barrier to people who are held back from employment, housing, and educational opportunities because of their criminal histories. Volunteer record repair counselors are provided with a basic understanding of New York criminal law and how to spot and fix mistakes on rap sheets. This assistance helps formerly incarcerated clients move on with their lives as they strive to reach positive career, academic, and personal goals.