For many it’s a knee-jerk impulse, when reading about a merger of nonprofit service agencies, to suspect a hostile takeover of one agency by the other and a plunder of its resources. It’s almost automatic to picture a shotgun wedding, with one of the newlyweds wishing they were elsewhere, their resources about to be taken away.

But the proposed alliance of the nonprofit mental health associations in Butler and Beaver counties is nothing like that. Rather, the proposal being studied resembles something more like a courtship, with the Butler association making the polite advances of a suitor.

The Butler association’s board of directors found themselves at a crossroads with the recent retirement of executive director Pam Grabe, who tirelessly had dedicated herself to the agency’s mission — to promote awareness of mental illness, reduce the stigma, and assist and advocate for patients — for 32 years. At issue: how best to proceed on a path that best serves clients, efficiently uses resources and doesn’t burn out board members and other volunteers with the constant demands of fundraising.

In the early stages of a search for Grabe’s successor, the Butler association’s board president, Claire Schmieler, learned that the Mental Health Association in Beaver County had recently undergone a similar search, also to replace a dedicated, longtime executive, and that its directors were quite happy with changes being implemented there. The two boards made contact, and Butler directors met with the Beaver association’s new executive director, Joe Cook, to gain the benefit of his experience.

Thus began the dating stage, which evolved into a marriage proposal and, apparently, the announcement last week of the two agencies’ engagement. Cook now is director of both associations with the ultimate goal of merging the two entities into one, or nearly one, with a number of shared services and expenses.

Schmieler said the prospect of an alliance has energized both boards, especially with the majority of population growth taking place in the Cranberry-Zelienople area, where the counties’ borders meet and, presumable, where a team approach can do the most good for the greatest number of future clients. Furthermore, the major funding sources — the county governments and United Ways — have blessed the pending marriage for its potential economies of scale and consistency of services across a broad region.

The prospects for a happy, prosperous union seem clear, and the work toward a merger should continue.