NILES — Two weeks ago, Alexis Bechtel was the sole Big Brothers Big Sisters case manager for Berrien, Cass and St. Joseph counties in Michigan. She oversaw about 80 mentorships between children (called littles), and adults (called bigs).

On Jan. 1, a flush of resources, funds and coworkers came her way. She hopes they will allow her to make even more meaningful relationships between area youth and adults.

On New Year’s Day, 52-year-old Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lower West Michigan and 51-year-old Big Brothers and Big Sisters of St. Joseph County (Indiana) merged. The new, larger affiliate has tentatively taken the former Indiana affiliate’s name until its new name, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Southern Lake Michigan Region, is approved by the national organization.

“I’ve really enjoyed being able to get to know people in the community, and I think the work that we do is something that this community really needs,” Bechtel said.

Before the merge, the Indiana-Michigan state line separating the affiliates created an imaginary barrier to providing maximal services to southwest Michigan residents, Bechtel, a former preschool teacher, said. If a mentor or child moved from Michigan to Indiana, that mentorship was often lost. Some potential mentorships likely never formed due to the political boundary.

Now, with the South Bend area and southwest Michigan merged, fewer mentorships will be lost and more will be gained, she said.

That is essential for Bechtel, who tries to find the best mentorship match between a big and a little.

Bechtel will be joined by a second case manager at her Niles office, 19 S. 18th St., and will be supported through the larger South Bend office. Now, case management, bookkeeping, letter-writing and public speaking will be split among multiple employees.

The merger was meant to do more than provide much-needed ease to the former lower west Michigan affiliate. It helped keep its services alive, said Bill Carnegie, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Joseph County.

“They both are long-term, well-established organizations,” he said of the former affiliates. “It’s just that the one in St. Joseph County was really developed over the years, and it’s pretty strong both in programs and financially.”

The two former affiliates began merge talks last January as part of the national Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mandate to combine smaller affiliates with larger ones to ensure big and little relationships could remain, Carnegie said.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lower West Michigan’s mentorship matches and fundraising were both below the criterion to remain un-merged.

The new local Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate has plans to continue expanding services in the area. Carnegie said he hopes to open a Benton Harbor office and expand into LaPorte County, Indiana within the next few years. The expansion would help the affiliate better live up to its future name, which references the larger Lake Michigan region.

More importantly, Carnegie said future expansions ensure children have supportive role models.

“We always look at kids being the future of our community, and the more resources we can give them, the stronger they’re going to be,” he said.