Broadway Connections, a 25-year-old program providing community and fostering independence for young and middle-aged physically disabled adults, will be cancelled by health authorities in October.

The program, held at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House on East Broadway near Prince Albert Street, operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The four-hour sessions provide a $3 hot dinner and activities for a group of physically challenged adults.

Betty Ann Spinks, 57, said she has been taking part in what she called the "beloved and vital" program once a week for the last 17 years. Spinks said she has had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis for 40 years. "We need these kinds of services," she said. "It's hard to make changes when you've been going to the same place for many years."

Spinks said representatives from Vancouver Coastal Health arrived when the program was in session on May 11 and 13 and gave everyone a letter informing them of the end of the program.

She said she was in shock when VCH officials informed her the program would be ending. She said many of the program's clients were in tears when they heard the news.

The group is composed of 19 adults ranging in age from their early 20s to early 60s.

Gavin Wilson, public affairs director for Vancouver Coastal Health, said the decision to cancel the program, which received almost $100,000 a year, was difficult. "It wasn't a decision that was made lightly," he said.

Wilson said the program was valued by its members, but funding was no longer feasible. "The program means a lot to the participants," he said. "The broader context is we are experiencing increased demand [for services]."

Wilson said the program guiding ideas were outdated, and separated adults with disabilities from the rest of society. He said a recreational therapist was being hired to help the physically challenged adults find new programs based on their interests.

"These are not going to be special programs, these are existing programs," explained Wilson.

Spinks said she didn't understand the rationale for having a recreational therapist assist the participants to find new programs when they all enjoyed their current program.

"I feel more comfortable where I am," she said.

She said a typical night at the program is divided between conversation, table bowling, word games, darts, movies and dinner. She said the group also has partly subsidized outings where they go to a movie or have a bowling night.

She said she was disheartened she would no longer have the chance to celebrate birthdays and enjoy Christmas dinners with her friends at Broadway Connections.

Jocelyne Hamel, executive director for the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, said her biggest worry was that some participants wouldn't be able to find another program.

She expects some people to fall through the cracks.

"We're hoping everyone will find something that will work for them, but we don't think that will happen," she said.

Hamel said without specialized equipment, many of the participants won't be able to participate in other activities.

Two employees will lose their jobs as a result of the cancellation of the program, and another two will be bumped from full-time to part-time work.

"The staff are not so much concerned about their own jobs, it's all about the participants," Hamel said.

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