About The Senior Center DR. CHARlES W. HOFFMAN SENIOR RESOURCE CENTER 108 So. Stevens Avenue South Amboy, N.J. 08879

HOURS: 8:00 am-4:00pm Monday-Friday

TELEPHONE: Department Head – 732-727-7677

Transportation/Senior Activities -732-525-5961 Fax-732-316-1221

STAFF DEPARTMENT HEAD – Mary Lou DeBlis Director of Recreation/Senior Citizens

DRIVERS – Kerryann Burke Marlene Johnson

CLERK – Karen Rufus

CUSTODIAN – Mark Abbatiello

The Dr. Charles W. Hoffman Senior Resource Center provides the senior citizens of South Amboy with activities, information, programs, assistance and transportation. To qualify for the services offered by the center, a person MUST be sixty years age and a resident of the City of South Amboy. Applications are available at the center which is located at 108 So. Stevens Avenue. The center is open daily, Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:00pm.

The staff at the center is comprised of: Department Head, Mary Lou DeBlis, Director of Recreation/Senior Citizens, City of South Amboy; Drivers – Kerryann Burke and Marlene Johnson; Clerk – Karen Rufus; Custodian – Mark Abbatiello.

The center publishes a monthly bulletin, “Senior Events” which announces the activities, programs, trips and information for the month. “Senior Events” can be obtained at the center and is available one week prior to the beginning of each new month. Monthly Transportation Request Forms are also available at the same time.

A variety of services and activities are offered at the Senior Resource Center. Among those offered are:

• Bingo – Held every Tuesday and Friday beginning at 1:30pm.
• Atlantic City Bus Trips – Scheduled on the 3rd Wednesday of each month
• Sing-Along – Prior to Bingo on Fridays, a volunteer from RSVP, New Brunswick provides the piano accompaniment
• Walking Club – Meets Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings from April though November, weather permitting. The club walks at the Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
• Podiatrist – Dr. Brandon Macy, from the Clark Podiatry Center provides foot care on alternate months. Appointments are required for this service and a fee is charged
• Flu Vaccines are provided by the Middlesex County Health Department every year
• Monthly Birthday Celebrations – Celebrated on the last Friday of each Month prior to the start of Bingo
• Senior Clubs – There are three, St. Mary’s Senior Club, Sacred Heart Senior Club and South Amboy Senior Club, which offer membership to all eligible seniors. The St. Mary’s Senior Club and the South Amboy Senior Club utilize the facilities but are operated independently of the Center.
• Home energy Assistance Program – A financial assistance program offered by the Board of Social Services. Applications are available at the Center.
• Lifeline – A utility assistance program which offers benefits to seniors sixty-five years of age or older. It is offered to homeowners are well as tenants. Applications are available at the center.
• Pharmaceutical Assistance and Aid for Drugs Program (PAAD) – Offered to senior citizens who are on a limited income. Guidelines and applications are available at the center.
• Transportation – Bus service is provided by the City of South Amboy for Senior Citizens who are residents of the City of South Amboy and registered at the center. Transportation is provided within a 10- mile radius of South Amboy to medical facilities, nutrition sites, recreation sites, shopping trips, food shopping, etc. A voluntary contribution of $.50 per trip within the South Amboy/Sayreville area and $1.00 per trip outside of this area is suggested.

Transportation sheets for the month are available ten days prior to the beginning of each month. Anyone requesting use of the senior transportation system MUST SUBMIT A MONTHLY TRANSPORTATION REQUEST FORM. Emergency doctor appointments may be called in and if time is available they will be approved. Appointments to medical facilities will ALWAYS receive priority. Therefore, non-essential trips may have to be delayed or canceled.

During transportation runs, NO extra stops will be made. Any and all stops MUST be requested on the Transportation Request Form. The drivers will follow their daily run sheets and will no deviate from them. If your name is not on the driver’s run sheet, you will not receive service.

Be ready at the door. The drivers should not have to radio the center for a staff member to call you to inform you that your ride is waiting. The drivers have been instructed NOT to wait. Every minute wasted delays the next client waiting to be picked up.

Please try to schedule your medical appointments early in the day and remember that the driver’s lunch breaks are between 11:30am and 1:00pm. There will be no transportation during this time slot.

Make sure that when requesting transportation to give the exact time of your appointment, and the name and exact address of your destination.

If you have to cancel your appointment, be sure to notify the Center as soon as possible. Failure to cancel transportation reservations causes the driver to waste valuable time, and may result in denial of future transportation request.

Occasionally, the vehicles do break down or are in need of service, or the driver may be ill or have taken the day off. Please try to understand that these things do happen, and please try to be patient. Our drivers do their best to accommodate everyone’s need for transportation. If your pickup is delayed, remember that it is usually NOT the driver’s fault, but generally due to traffic of waiting for the previous client.

In the event of inclement weather, the buses will not operate if school district is closed due to inclement weather.