CROCHETING SAVES LIVES—RSVP volunteer Faye Long organizes handmade items at the Goebel Senior Center boutique that offers baby blankets, quilts and other handmade items for sale. Proceeds go to local charitable efforts, including providing low-income, fragile seniors with lifesaving connections to emergency services, which allow them to live independently. As their nimble fingers crochet, knit and sew handmade items, volunteers are saving lives.

Baby blankets, afghans, quilts and other items created by dozens of volunteers are sold at the Retired Senior Volunteer Program's boutique at the Goebel Senior Center. The proceeds help local programs, including one that promotes independent living for seniors.

"We are currently at our limit with 18 seniors on Lifeline," RSVP director Cindy Powers said.

Lifeline is a bracelet or pendant that, with a click of a button, provides outside contact and emergency help for seniors who live alone.

Those getting assistance from RSVP include an 83-year-old resident who is now able to live alone in her Thousand Oaks home even though she's had several strokes, uses a walker and is unsteady on her feet; a woman with a terminal illness who lives alone in low-income housing and has a daughter who checks on her in the evening; and a woman who's lost feeling in her leg after a stroke.

All three felt vulnerable living alone but wanted to continue to do so. They could not afford the monthly payments for Lifeline, so RSVP money was set aside to help them.

If a participant dies or goes into a rest home, Lifeline is made available to someone else who needs it, said Lori Bliss, Senior Concerns case coordinator.

"Lifeline provides a personal emergency response with a push of a button for the senior and peace of mind for the senior's family," Bliss said.

According to Senior Concerns administrators, one of the primary needs for seniors living alone is access to Lifeline or a similar apparatus. The device can be activated so the senior can call for help should they fall or otherwise become incapacitated, Powers explained.

Over the last year, RSVP sales have gone up enough to provide an estimated $6,000 to the program over the next year. Each quarter RSVP, sponsored by the Conejo Recreation and Park District, hopes to provide a grant of $1,500 to be given out by Senior Concerns, a nonprofit dedicated to helping seniors, Powers said.

Those who would like to support the program can do so by purchasing handmade gifts, greeting cards and other items from the boutique, which is open to the public.