Riverview Community Action Corporation
RCAC was founded in 1966 as local offshoot of a federally funded anti-poverty program located in the basement of the Oakmont Carnegie Library. Initially, volunteers distributed used clothes to needy people in the community for little to no cost. This project grew more quickly than expected, and within a few years they were pressed for space in the small library basement. In 1971, a small craft store in Verona run by two college students was looking to close its doors, but rather than shutting it down, Betty Raphael suggested that RCAC buy "the Store for arts and crafts and people-made things" and continue business as a craft store in the front, while using the back as a storeroom for donated clothes. Betty Raphael also assisted in many of the other RCAC programs, including organizing a daycare, as well as an annual "Twin-Borough Bootstraps Party" beginning in 1976 as a fundraiser for the community and by the community.
RCAC still exists today and has a range of programs for senior citizens including home-delivered meals, life enrichment education, socialization/recreation, health and healthy endeavors, APPRISE counseling, as well as information and referrals for other services. RCAC also provides services to people of all ages such as the emergency food pantry, the Twin Borough Bus, flu shots, the RCAC library, and a variety of fundraising events and volunteer programs.
For more information, check out their website at http://rcacorp.org/
