AbilityPath of Redwood City and Via Services of Santa Clara have merged.

The two nonprofits announced the merger, which went into effect Friday, July 1, last week.

The organizations offer services to children, youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families in the Peninsula and south bay.

"Our two organizations proactively pursued this affiliation opportunity as strategic action to first mitigate some of the challenges posed by the pandemic, and second to expand and add new, innovative programs to better serve the community," AbilityPath CEO Bryan Neider said. "This strategic alliance will better position us to invest in our incredible staff and the programs we deliver to the individuals and families we serve."

Matt Bell, Via Services's executive director, said the organizations are aligned "in terms of the services we provide to the disability community and our vision for creating a future opportunity for all."

"This merger will allow us to achieve our collective goal of ensuring that the individuals and families we currently serve can count on us for the support they need, and also help meet the needs of hundreds of additional individuals who join the disability community each year," he said.

AbilityPath and Via Services will offer services at 15 program sites that span from Daly City to Santa Clara.