A partnership between two nonprofit organizations will now become a merger.

The Housing Alliance of York and the YMCA's Y Community Development Corporation will merge to form an organization called Y Housing Resources.

The merger goes into effect Wednesday. The new Housing Resources office will be at 35 S. Duke St. in York City, which is the alliance's office location.

The mission of the newly formed YHR will be to "couple affordable housing with the provision of housing counseling services to create stable and long-term living for York County residents," according to a news release from the development corporation.

With the merger, the alliance and the corporation will have the same management leadership and board of directors.

Actually, the two organizations' board of directors merged in fall of 2011, said Jessica Fieldhouse, who serves as managing director for the alliance and as the corporation's director of community development.

However, the organizations will maintain separate budgets and keep their staff. Fieldhouse said her new position within the merger has yet to be established.

"The merger process is going to be incremental," Fieldhouse said. "The future goal is to come under one building."

For now, alliance portion will continue at the 35 S. Duke St. office, while the Y Community Development Corporation staff will maintain offices at 90 N. Newberry St.

The alliance and the corporation have been working together since the spring of 2010 to provide guidance and assistance to residents. Under the new Y Housing Resources, clients can receive housing-related guidance, assistance and referrals all at one place.

A strategic alliance grant from the York County Community Foundation provided the resources need to explore the partnership and merger, according to Y Community Corporation's news release.

The corporation has provided affordable housing in York City for 15 years and has more than 90 affordable housing units.

For the past 30 years, the Housing Alliance of York has been providing rental, credit and budget, and pre- and post-purchase counseling services, as well as homebuyer education and mortgage foreclosure prevention services.

"With the changing economy, there are not as many funds available to keep programs growing in agencies," Fieldhouse said. "The (alliance and corporation) have similar goals concerning housing, so (the merger) is a really great fit."

Reach Eyana Adah McMillan at 505-5438 or emcmillaln@yorkdispatch.com.