A Lafayette Hill nonprofit is about to become one of the largest human services organizations in the country, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

And it got there through a phone introduction made less than two years ago.

Merakey USA is affiliating with Boundless, an Ohio nonprofit that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs.

The deal, announced Thursday, is pending review by the Ohio Attorney General and is expected to close in July.

A Partnership, Not a Rescue

The affiliation stands out in a sector where mergers typically happen for one reason: a struggling organization needs a financial lifeline. That was the case with Philadelphia’s Resources for Human Development in 2024.

This time, both sides came to the table from a position of strength.

Merakey CEO Joseph S. Martz and Boundless CEO Patrick Maynard described the agreement as a partnership between two financially stable nonprofits preparing for an uncertain future rather than a rescue of a failing organization.

The introduction came from Stacy DiStefano, CEO of Consulting for Human Services. She connected Martz and Maynard in July 2024.

From there, the two leaders began comparing notes on shared problems and reached the same conclusion: combining resources made more sense than solving those problems separately.

What $1 Billion Actually Buys

The combined organization will generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue, employ approximately 11,000 people, and support 50,000 individuals and families each year across 12 states.

That scale unlocks investments that neither organization could easily justify alone. Merakey, for example, spent $18 million implementing Workday. The software is a platform for human resources and financial management.

It is the kind of infrastructure purchase that is out of reach for most nonprofits in the sector and one that Maynard pointed to specifically as a reason the affiliation made sense for Boundless.

Those investments are becoming increasingly important as the human services industry faces tighter government funding and a shift toward paying providers based on outcomes rather than the volume of services delivered.

Most organizations in the sector depend heavily on Medicaid reimbursements that frequently fall short of covering actual costs.

Boundless, which expanded into healthcare and dental services for its clients, absorbs a Medicaid shortfall of $75,000 a month on dental care alone.

Roots in Philadelphia, Reach Across 12 States

Merakey traces its origins to the Northwest Center, which opened in Philadelphia’s Mount Airy neighborhood in 1969.

It provides behavioral health, addiction recovery, autism, special education, and intellectual disability services across the country.

Pennsylvania remains the center of its operations and is expected to account for more than half of the organization’s projected $850 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending this month.

Boundless, meanwhile, has grown rapidly through five acquisitions over the past seven years, expanding its annual revenue from roughly $20 million to an expected $200 million.

That growth allowed it to add healthcare and dental services for clients, though the Medicaid shortfall has continued to pressure the bottom line.

Keeping It Local

Under the affiliation structure, Boundless will continue operating under its own name with its leadership team and local governance in place.

Maynard will lead Boundless Midwest, a new division overseeing Merakey’s programs in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Boundless will retain its local board and community partnerships, a deliberate design choice that distinguishes the affiliation from a conventional acquisition.

Martz said the objective is not simply to build a larger organization, but to use the combined resources to strengthen the quality and long-term sustainability of care.

“If you’re not culturally aligned, bigger for bigger sake just doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said.

Read more about Merakey USA’s new affiliation and its plans for the future in The Philadelphia Inquirer.