In the late 1960s an Amendment to the Older American’s Act developed a federal domestic volunteer service program.  Under this program, called ACTION, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program was born.  In 1973, the New Britain Area Conference of Churches (NEWBRACC) began an RSVP in New Britain.

Over the next decade RSVP grew to include Berlin and then Southington.  At the same time, its sponsoring agency changed from NEWBRACC to the Chamber of Commerce to the YMCA of New Britain. 

RSVP of Central CT, Inc. came to be in the mid 1980s by going out on it’s own instead of having a parent or sponsoring agency.  Soon after, Meriden and Wallingford became a part of the organization’s territory.

In the beginning, RSVP members were knitters, crafters, hospital volunteers and mailers.  As the agency grew and a diverse group of volunteers signed on, the participants got involved in local schools, became tutors and friendly visitors and developed highly skilled service opportunities.

In the 1990s, RSVP started to get involved in programming to help the senior population.  With the introduction of the Senior Volunteer Advocacy Program at the Attorney General’s office at the TRIAD in New Britain, RSVP was working to directly address the needs and concerns of older Americans.

At the turn of the century, RSVP had offices in New Britain and Meriden.  Senior volunteers became active in technology-based assignments and many were proactive in developing programs to help their community and serve their neighbors.

Today, ACTION is the Corporation for National and Community Service; volunteers are involved in literacy, advocacy, education and therapy and RSVP is working harder than ever to maximize the skills and efforts of older Americans to address the needs of our community.