Every month there is more going on for older adults and their families in Monmouth County than most people realize, and it is scattered across a dozen places nobody has time to check. This is our running roundup of where to look and who to call. Here is what is worth knowing this August.
Aging-services help, in one place
The county's front door for older adults is the Monmouth County Division on Aging, Disabilities and Veterans Services, based off Kozloski Road in Freehold. They coordinate Meals on Wheels, in-home services, caregiver support, and no-cost Medicare counseling through the state's SHIP program, which is useful in the fall as Medicare's open-enrollment season approaches. If you are not sure where to start with a parent's needs, this is the call to make first, at (732) 431-7450. Their current programs and SHIP Medicare-counseling schedule are at monmouthadvs.com.
SCAN NJ (Senior Citizens Activities Network) runs activity and benefits programs out of Monmouth Beach at (732) 542-1326, and their Benefit Enrollment Center at (732) 587-5906 helps older adults sign up for Medicare Savings, SNAP, and energy assistance. Comfort Keepers is a SCAN sponsor, so this is a partner we know and trust. Their current activity calendar is at scannj.org.
Health screenings and support groups
The Hackensack Meridian hospitals across the county, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, and Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, run community health screenings, memory and caregiver support groups, and wellness talks through the summer. These are usually offered at no cost and open to the public, and the caregiver support groups in particular are worth it for a family member who feels alone in this. Hackensack Meridian also runs a Community Wellness van with no-cost blood-pressure, cholesterol, blood-sugar, stroke-risk, and BMI checks. Current dates for screenings, classes, and support groups are on the Hackensack Meridian classes and events calendar.
The Monmouth County Library system also runs older-adult programming, from technology help to author talks to health sessions, at branches across the county. Browse what is on this month at monmouthcountylib.org/library-events.
Two seasonal alerts for August
August is still deep summer, and heat is a real risk for older adults. On the hottest days, an upstairs bedroom can reach a dangerous temperature while the downstairs still feels fine. Know where the county's cooling centers are before a heat wave, keep hydration steady through the afternoon, and check on an older neighbor or parent daily during a stretch of high heat. The National Institute on Aging keeps current heat-safety guidance for older adults.
August is also the start of the busiest stretch of the Atlantic storm season along the Shore. If your parent depends on any powered medical equipment, now is the week to make a simple outage plan and register them on the medical-priority list with their utility (JCP&L's Critical Care program covers most of Monmouth). It takes one phone call and it flags the address.
Farmers-market help you may not know about
New Jersey runs a Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program that gives eligible older adults vouchers for fresh local produce at participating markets, and Monmouth County has plenty of markets through the late summer. It is open to residents 60 and older who meet the income guidelines, the vouchers are handed out through the County Office on Aging (call (732) 431-7450), and the season runs from late spring into the fall. Rutgers Cooperative Extension explains how to apply. It is a small, underused benefit that puts real local produce on the table.
Where we fit
Most of what is above is no-cost or low-cost community help, and we point families to it all the time, whether they ever become our clients or not. When a family does need steady help at home, companion care, personal care, or a break for a worn-out caregiver, that is what we do across Monmouth County, and we are careful about who we send. Every caregiver is a certified home health aide, and our human resource manager, Deborah Hing, treats the background check as the minimum and calls their references herself before hiring. If you are trying to sort out what your parent needs and which of these resources fits, we are glad to talk it through with no obligation. Call us at (732) 530-3636.
We refresh this roundup each month. Bookmark it, or call us and we will point you to the right resource for what your family needs right now.
