KALIHI — Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center, which is facing a $100,000 deficit this fiscal year and a shaky future as government aid and private donations decline, is reaching out to the community for help before it's too late.

"We have challenges ahead. We all know that," Jerry Rauckhorst, Catholic Charities Hawai'i president and chief executive officer, told about 280 seniors and community members gathered yesterday at the senior center in Kalihi to learn about its financial troubles.

Cuts to state grants, he added, "left us with a very big void in our financial picture. Basically, Catholic Charities operates the center on a shoelace."

The center, set to celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, serves more than 2,000 people ages 60 and older with a slew of classes, tax preparation and food distribution programs, health screenings and volunteer opportunities. The center also links seniors with other services.

Lanakila is the largest senior center in the state.

For many elderly people, it is a place to make friends and stay active.

"This is the Pacific Club of Kalihi," quipped Minnie Mana, 84.

Rose Kawaoka, also 84, added she has been coming for 15 years.

If it were no longer around, she said, "I don't know what I'd do."

Catholic Charities Hawai'i has managed the senior center since 1981.

The charity has a $123,000-a-year contract with the state Health Department for the center and raises about $60,000 annually in donations. In years past, Catholic Charities has also received a $170,000 state grant-in-aid.

But no grant was awarded this fiscal year, after legislators cut state spending in the face of declining revenues. The cut left Catholic Charities scrambling to cover bills at the senior center.

$100,000 DEFICIT

Rauckhorst told center members and others yesterday that the gathering place on Lanakila Avenue is expecting a $100,000 deficit this fiscal year, which the nonprofit is looking to shore up with last-minute pleas for donations. With the state's dim financial picture, Catholic Charities is also worrying about the long-term viability of the center.

Though the state Health Department has said it wants to keep funding for Lanakila at the current level, legislators may decide to make cuts during the 2009 Legislature.

There are also concerns that private donations will drop.

Rauckhorst said yesterday that though the center may be able to squeak by in the fiscal year that ends June 30, the following year could be worse. He said Catholic Charities won't be able to keep the center open much longer if funding continues to decline. "Beyond 2009, that's the big question," he said.

The senior center isn't alone in facing tough times.

Across the state, nonprofits are cutting services, trimming programs and contemplating layoffs as their major sources of money — state funding, foundation grants and private donations — plummet in the economic downturn.

"These are very challenging times," Susan Jackson, deputy director at the Department of Health, told center members yesterday.

'IMPORTANT' TO SENIORS

Seniors from around urban Honolulu gathered at the center yesterday morning to support its survival. Some have been coming to the center for decades.

Maile Lorch Duvauchelle, 83, has been a regular for 20 years. She comes once a week for tai chi classes.

She also volunteers and goes on an occasional field trip or to a health presentation.

The center, she said, "is very important" to seniors.

Sakae Maemizo, 98, agreed, saying she treasures her time there. She started attending classes at the center a decade ago to meet friends.

"I enjoy myself," she said.

Sylvia Yuen, director of the University of Hawai'i Center on the Family, said beyond the classes and social welfare services, the center is vital as a place to keep seniors active, healthy and engaged in their communities.

And as the number of seniors soars in the Islands over the next two decades, Lanakila will be more important than ever, she added.