The Vashon Senior Center is contending with cuts to its services and programs next year after losing a major source of funding.

Last summer, United Way of King County changed its focus and announced that beginning next July, it will no longer support several services for seniors and people with disabilities. That decision means the loss of nearly $1.8 million from almost 30 agencies around the county and has captured the attention of Washington state’s AARP. Its advocacy director, Cathy MacCaul, is working to convey the need for senior programs and money to fund them in the wake of the decision.

“The last of the baby boomers just turned 50, so we are going to have a huge number of people who are going to continue to need and rely on services,” she said in an interview last week.

On Vashon, senior center Executive Director Ava Apple said she is pruning her $150,000 annual budget to prepare for a $15,000 shortfall next year and $30,000 the following year.

“That’s one-quarter of my fixed budget,” she said. “This is a big blow.”

Among the potential services to be cut are a popular fitness program at Ober Park, the van service that brings island elders to lunch and the monthly newsletter that informs members of activities and programs. A range of other items are slated to be trimmed as well, from advertising to staff and volunteer training. In all, Apple said, the reductions total nearly $14,000 and run as deep as she can go.

“I do not know what I am going to do the following year. I cannot cut another $15,000 out of my 2017 budget,” she said.

The center is open four days a week and serves lunch each of those days. Lunch is supported by a community donor and will not be cut, she said.

Since Apple began as the director three years ago, the center has ramped up its offerings considerably and provides a range of classes and activities for island seniors — smart phone classes, intergenerational bridge and a book group among them. A recent estate planning presentation was very popular, Apple said, and new support groups for both grief and loss and low vision filled quickly. Neighbor to Neighbor, a 2-year-old senior center program that helps to keep island elders in their homes, has between 60 and 70 clients, who call for volunteer assistance with a range of tasks.

Programming is at capacity so creating more programs and charging for them is not an option to raise more money, Apple noted.

“We are between a rock and a hard spot right now,” she said.

A United Way letter to grantees that Apple received this summer explains the redirection of the large nonprofit agency’s funds. Going forward, the letter said, it will align its grants with programs that focus on ending homelessness, supporting early learning and older youth and alleviating poverty.

Those areas are important, Apple said, but the sweeping cuts for seniors, a large and increasing demographic, are difficult.

“This feels like a blow, like the work we are doing is not important,” she said. “The need is growing, and we should be growing to meet that need.”

The center has received United Way funding for the past six years, she said, and United Way has funded senior services in King County for 50 years.

AARP’s MacCaul noted the cuts have come at a particularly challenging time for seniors. Social Security payments will not provide a cost-of-living adjustment next year. Increased state funding is unlikely as Washington legislators must fund education, and they have been further limited by Initiative 1366, the latest Tim Eyman anti-tax measure, which passed in November.

AARP and the affected agencies want the public to know about the cuts, MacCaul said, and are reaching out to elected officials and larger  media outlets to spread the word. They have also reached out to United Way officials, with whom they met last week.

“We want to make sure more thought is put into these kinds of decisions and engage in discussion and dialogue about the important role United Way plays in the community,” she said.

Meanwhile, on Vashon, Apple said she is looking for alternative funding sources, but she noted most want to fund programs, not general operations — the kind of support the center needs.

In the midst of her budget work for next year, Apple recently sent out the center’s holiday appeal letter.

“I am hoping that folks will help me with this shortfall,” she said.