It's widely known that that there are more people struggling with homelessness and hunger these days. The good news is that Area Congregations Together (ACT)  hasn't had to reduce services and has, in fact, been able to increase them.

It's all due to thoughtful strategic planning, a successful capital building campaign that resulted in the construction of a larger facility and a new partnership with other shelter providers that gives clients greater access to a whole host of services.

"Our goal has always been to help our clients break that cycle so when they leave Spooner and go into permanent housing, they have skills to maintain that housing and self sufficiency for themselves and their families," says Susan Agamy, Executive Director of Area Congregations Together.  ACT’s Spooner House program is one of Connecticut’s most comprehensive, and it is the only shelter facility serving the homeless in the Lower Naugatuck Valley.

"We have really tried to go beyond just the 3 meals and a bed. In the old facility, anything we wanted to do had to be off site due to lack of space."

Since the larger shelter was created, ACT has been able to offer financial literacy workshops, parenting programs, legal seminars and nutrition and healthy living classes . They've also offered some basic job skill training like how to fill out a job application and what to do on an interview.

The expanded services have almost all been done with ACT's partner agencies... health literacy with the Visiting Nurses Association ,  Mommy and Me with the Valley Parish Nurse Association, financial workshops with Newtown Savings Bank, legal seminars with a local attorney and mental health outreach with Birmingham Group Health Services .

"We have been able to capitalize on those relationships and build a whole network of services for our clients to address the underlying issues of their homelessness," says Agamy.

Early in 2011, ACT joined other basic needs providers including  BethEl , Columbus House  and the VA to become a member of the Greater New Haven Regional Alliance to End Homelessness. The group meets regularly to review the needs of their clients and identify which programs are available and where the best match is.

"We have built a level of trust now whereby there's a free flow of information across the organizations."

ACT has been able to house several families and people through their new partnerships.

"It's a win for our clients , but also a win for all of the agencies  because we're seeing success."