More than 250 senior citizens in Enid will be looking for a place to have a hot meal every day now that Wheatheart Nu-trition no longer has a congregate site here.

Due to state bud-get cutbacks, Wheat-heart had to absorb $230,000 in funding cuts from Oklaho-ma Department of Human Services and was forced to leave its permanent location at Booker T. Washington Community Center.

A contract with Southern Heights Com-munity Organization fell through at the last minute, so Marianne Gutierrez, director of Wheatheart Nutrition, tried to notify all of her consumers they no longer would have a place to eat.

No one representing Southern Heights Commun-ity Organization could be reached for comment Mon-day.

“We don’t have anywhere to go permanently,” Gutier-rez said. “Sadly, until we find a permanent home, the consumers won’t have a site to go to, which means no hot meals at the sites or meals delivered.”

She said Wheatheart is looking for a site that will feed 50-60 people a day but does not need kitchen facilities. A new location must be handicap-accessible.

As part of its plan to deal with the budget cuts, Wheatheart had to eliminate its Friday meals, furlough employees, close during the holiday and close some of its kitchens, including one in Enid.

“On Dec. 23, the day we closed for the holiday, I got a call from someone concerned about one of our consumers and whether they would have meals for the holiday,” Gutierrez said. “I called her and she said she is 95 years old and that is the only hot meal she gets during the day.”

Wheatheart Nutrition sites will reopen Jan. 4, except in Enid, where there now is no location. That will affect more than 250 people, Gutierrez said.

“Enid is where we are struggling, because it is displaced, but the budget cuts have affected us in many ways. The whole project is affected,” she said.

Eight Enid churches have committed to help bring meals to seniors during the week of Christmas and all the Fridays Wheat-heart is closed through June.

Wheatheart Nutrition has a total budget of $1.9 million. The budget for the 35-year-old agency includes $1.2 million from Northern Oklahoma Development As-sociation, about $150,000 from private donations and approximately $560,000 from the Department of Human Services, according to Brandi Atkinson, assistant director of the NODA Area Agency on Aging.

Wheatheart Nutrition provides daily meals to 970 people in Alfalfa, Grant, Kay, Garfield, Noble, Blaine, Kingfisher and Major counties. Wheatheart’s nutrition sites are located in Billings, Blackwell, Cherokee, Enid, Garber, Helena, Kingfisher, Medford, Newkirk, Perry, Ponca City, Pond Creek, Ringwood, Tonkawa, Wa-tonga and Waukomis.