A new volunteer outreach initiative in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is helping connect older and vulnerable adults with critical resources, social support, and community services through trained volunteers and community partnerships.
The Resources for Senior and Vulnerable Persons (RSVP) Program was developed with support from Dr. Lizzie Bowland, associate professor at the UT College of Social Work (UTCSW), and University of Tennessee graduate student Alana Thompson as part of Thompson’s independent study in the UTCSW’s Gerontology Graduate Certificate program.
Led by the Oak Ridge Police Department, the RSVP Program trains volunteers to support older and vulnerable adults through wellness visits, resource referrals, companionship, and early identification of concerns related to safety, mental health, cognitive decline, transportation, and isolation.
“The Oak Ridge Police Department noticed there were a lot of people that weren’t getting services and weren’t connected with the right kinds of services,” Bowland said. “They wanted to start a volunteer program in Oak Ridge, and they wanted to train volunteers to support older and vulnerable adults.”
The idea for the project came together in fall 2025 when Bowland was approached by a pastor in Oak Ridge about helping develop volunteer training for the police department’s new outreach initiative. Around the same time, Thompson contacted Bowland about completing an independent study as part of the gerontology certificate program.
Thompson, who recently graduated from UT with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, brought more than 20 years of law enforcement experience to the project, including work as a detective and assistant police chief in Alaska.
“I spent the majority of my time as a cop doing detective work, but I also got to really be heavily involved in our crisis intervention team, really training officers and first responders,” Thompson said. “So that’s kind of my nexus to mental health and kind of how it ties into counseling.”
Together, Bowland and Thompson developed a 20-hour volunteer training curriculum designed to help volunteers better understand the needs of older and vulnerable adults while teaching practical communication, assessment, and referral skills. The inaugural training launched in February and ran over six weeks, with 13 volunteers completing the program.
According to Thompson, the training focused on helping volunteers identify unmet needs before they become larger crises.
“We were able to partner with key stakeholders in the Oak Ridge community,” Thompson said. “The goal was really organizing the resources and helping volunteers identify needs, so people weren’t falling through the cracks.”
Volunteers may assist with a wide range of concerns, including food insecurity, home safety issues, transportation barriers, social isolation, and access to healthcare or community resources.
“Older adults often become very isolated, and they are not good at asking for help,” Bowland said. “Part of the reason is they don’t want to lose control of their lives or their living circumstances.”
Bowland said the program is designed to help build trusted relationships and encourage earlier intervention when concerns arise.
“What we’re hoping for is that companions will build connection with older people in the community and that they will be able to notice if things start to change in a way that is unsafe for that person,” Bowland added.
Bowland hopes the RSVP initiative can serve as a model for other communities looking to better support aging populations while creating meaningful volunteer opportunities.
“I think this is a model for ways that communities can be more engaged,” Bowland said. “There is a whole possibility for volunteers, and particularly retired volunteers, to provide support for people in their community.”
Community members interested in volunteering can visit the RSVP Program’s website for additional information.