The June meeting of TRIAD, an organization dedicated to improving quality of life and safety for seniors, featured an introduction to a little-known agency, Senior Corps RSVP. A national Senior Corps program administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, RSVP is sponsored locally by Share Care Faith in Action, serving Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties.

RSVP Director Diane Schrameyer addressed the meeting as guest speaker. She began by explaining the history of the organization.

The 1960s saw the first White House Conference on Aging, she said. Concerned over the impacts of widespread mandatory retirement, the conference asked what the country could do to help keep seniors involved and active. Based on a pilot project called SERVE (Serve and Enrich Retirement by Volunteer Experience) in Staten Island, N.Y., RSVP was established by an act of Congress.

"There is such a need for seniors who are our only growing resource," Schrameyer said, "[to serve] where their time and talents will best be utilized." Research shows people who volunteer live longer and are healthier, she said. Volunteering also provides seniors with some of the benefits of employment, such as social contact and a sense of self-worth.

Schrameyer compared RSVP to a temporary employment agency, linking retirees seeking volunteer opportunities with nonprofits who need volunteers.

"It serves as a bridge between things that need to be done in the community and people who want to help but aren't quite sure where their skills are needed," she said. Anyone over 55 is eligible to join, and organizations seeking volunteers need only contact RSVP and make their needs known. Volunteer applicants are asked about their skills and interests so an appropriate match can be made.

Opportunities can include helping in hospitals and nursing homes, delivering meals, working with children or animals, even working to protect the environment. For example, volunteers with the Senior Environment Corps tested water in the Bushkill Creek, leading to the discovery of dangerous levels of E. coli one recent summer.

Some volunteers moved into Fellowship Manor, which has a phenomenal woodshop, said Schrameyer. RSVP obtained donated lumber, which they used to craft toys to be donated for use in places like a pediatric center.

At present, said Schrameyer, Lehigh Valley Hospital at 17th and Chew Streets in Allentown, desperately needs help in its gift shop. And RSVP would like to recruit ombudsmen to serve as resident advocates in nursing homes. This is something volunteers can do on their own time.

All volunteers receive pre-service orientation, training from the organization where they will serve, and supplemental insurance while on duty.

"The beauty of it is that [the insurance] covers volunteers from the time they leave home," Schrameyer, adding most insurance claims arise from incidents while in transit. RSVP can also negotiate benefits like meals and parking, she said. The goal is to ensure that everyone can be involved in service and it will not cost them to volunteer.

"It's one of the Lehigh Valley's best-kept secrets," Shrameyer said.

Senior Corps RSVP of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon Counties was first established in 1983, said Schrameyer, with the Catholic Social Agency as sponsor. The program is federally funded, but a local agency must apply for a grant to establish a program. Later the program was sponsored by the Lutheran Home at Topton and Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries. When Diakon discontinued its sponsorship in 2011 RSVP was without a sponsor until Share Care adopted it in October 2012. Although some programs closed during the interim, RSVP now has 92 volunteers at 30 stations.

"There's a wealth of information in Lehigh County that people aren't aware of," Triad Chair Judith Lieberman said. "That's part of TRIAD, to educate the elderly as to what is available."

Lieberman said TRIAD is currently looking for ways to attract new members, especially seniors. She emphasized membership involves no fees or dues, and the meetings include free continental breakfast.

Another initiative spearheaded by TRIAD has been the effort to launch Project Lifesaver in the Lehigh Valley. Lieberman wanted to establish this program, which serves people with memory loss and other mental disabilities by locating them when they wander. Her daughter, Martha Lieberman, has been in charge of this effort, and spoke about the program.

"It can be very helpful in the rural areas where there are so many personal care homes," she said. An individual who may wander is fitted with a bracelet that can be used by the participating agency to locate the person. The cost is generally about $300 for the bracelet, and the local agency must purchase the tracking equipment and have operators trained by Project Lifesaver, an international organization that administers the program. The local organization has an agreement with the Allentown Police Department, Lieberman said, and they need only to set up training for those who will operate the program. Eventually they would like to get other municipalities involved.