LAWTON, Okla_There is new information on the impact of federal budget cuts on senior citizen nutrition sites in Southwest Oklahoma. Last week, the Delta Nutrition Program which runs the sites said it would have to close one of the locations in Lawton to help offset the budget cut. Today, the local agency that oversees Delta debated all the proposals that have been made to solve this financial crisis.
Officials decided to wait until October 9th before making a final decision on closing it. They said they wanted to consider some new information that was presented at Wednesday's meeting. But they did discuss some of the factors that put the south site on the chopping block.
ASCOG Director of Supportive Services Ken Jones told the group that it's not just a matter of how many seniors use the south site. He said there are guidelines that dictate the specific target of their resources.
"Which is low-income minorities, not just minorities, but low-income minorities."
Jones said his research shows that of the four Lawton sites, the south site has no one attending who meet that criteria, while the other three do.
"We have to target all those areas and it's a difficult balance to maintain."
But, the Agency of Aging Advisory Chair Jalmer Fallon spoke up on behalf of those who use the south site regularly, and talked about the way they've been treated over the past several months, because of this ongoing financial bind.
"They've been moved from what was the flagship of Comanche County, the fair grounds there. They were moved from there and Centenary United Methodist was gracious enough to bring them back there, that's where the program originated from some 20 years ago. They've formed themselves into a community there and are very concerned about it."
While there is free busing provided by Delta officials that can help them get to one of the other locations in town, Fallon said each site has a distinct culture, and for some of these seniors, making that change isn't as simple as going to another building. Jones said he's well aware the program may lose numbers.
"By closing any site even if we offer transportation to another site, they're going to be certain people that will not go, but as far as space of people really wanting to go and a significant number of that population really wanting to go and they needed to go we do have other places that are available to them."
Jones said the cuts don't end there, he has already been told there will be another cut of about $120,000 from the program next year. He said he expects federal funding to disappear all together in the next few years.
Again, they've delayed their decision on closing the Lawton south site for another couple of weeks. We'll keep watching the situation in the meantime, and let you know when the proposal is finalized.
