The year ahead is shaping up to be a tough one for more than a dozen charity groups and organizations in the Halifax area.

The local United Way has cut funding to some groups as it struggles to deal with declining donations and experts say things likely won’t turn around anytime soon.

The sounds of children at play are generally pretty common at Halifax’s Ward Five Neighbourhood Centre.

Founded more than 30 years ago, the centre provides a slew of programs and services, including hot meals for children and seniors.

But upstairs in his quiet office, Executive Director Douglas MacDonald admits he’s got a problem to deal with, as the Centre has recently lost nearly 20% of their annual funding.

“It’s going to be a key cut for us,” says MacDonald. “The board of directors and I, and staff, are in the process of looking at where we’re going in the future.”

The funding had been coming from the United Way. The umbrella organization has collected and distributed tens of millions of dollars over the years, but now finds itself having to make some tough choices.

“You know, the situation the United Way is in is heartbreaking,” says Sara Napier, President and CEO of the Halifax United Way.

Napier notes the organization has been dipping into savings for years to keep up with its commitments, but that well has now gone dry.

“We’ve been really transparent about that with our agencies,” explains Napier. “We’ve been talking about some of these challenges, and the reserves aren’t there anymore, so we could only give out what came in from our donors.”

That reality is reflected in the number of groups receiving funding- 33 this year, down from 46 in 2018.

Donations are down about $700,000 from 2019 to 2018.

Experts say part of the problem facing charities is that younger people simply can’t afford to be as generous as their predecessors.

“I think that what we see with charities is a generational shift,” says Howard Ramos, a professor of sociology at Dalhousie University. “When you see the population getting older, and as baby boomers are unfortunately hitting the end of their lives, young people are stepping in as a bigger share of the population, and we’re starting to see a bit of a gap.”

A stark reality that Douglas MacDonald says is leading to major changes at the Ward Five Neighbourhood Centre.

“It was a good run and we’re extremely grateful, and we’re hoping in the future things we get brighter, but it definitely leaves us with some challenging choices to make,” says MacDonald.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko.