A pair of upcoming community meetings will address the foreclosure crisis, but with an added spiritual component. In a united effort to help those caught in the housing crunch, the educational forums will feature experts who will speak on the foreclosure process, ways to avoid foreclosure and other financial alternatives.
In addition, the sessions will have on hand church representatives who will be available to help families cope emotionally with housing slump that not only has cost people their homes, but also their peace of mind.
“We want to provide emotional, spiritual and financial guidance,” Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart said of the Foreclosure Prevention Seminar, slated for Saturday, April 5. “Everybody has the same problems.” The second session, scheduled for Sunday, April 13, will offer hope and help for families in foreclosure.
Sponsored by St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church, the “Families in Foreclosure” Forum will have parishioners with experience in the housing industry and counseling professions discussing a range of topics related to foreclosure, including what to expect during foreclosure, coping strategies for families, and available resources and options.
“We have a couple of families in our parish where the marriages are suffering because of financial pressures. The kids are suffering too,” said Father David Scotchie of St. Maximilian Kolbe. “Some people in Avalon Park are over-leveraged and are looking at changing their lifestyle and standard of living.”
For many families, a home is their single biggest asset and a source of pride. But when a family’s financial situation changes and they can no longer afford the mortgage, they face the very real possibility of losing their homes to foreclosure.
Father Scotchie said St. Maximilian Kolbe is a close-knit parish that does not want fellow parishioners, family members, friends and neighbors to endure the painful, unfamiliar process of losing a home without a caring support network.
The session will host personal counselors from Catholic Charities who will offer guidance and a sympathetic ear, similar to the role of the church, he said. “The church is in the business of hope, not just our church but all churches.
Even if you lose your home and savings, you don’t have to lose hope,” Father Scotchie said. Sheila Madden, a crisis counselor with the Christian Sharing Center in Seminole County, will be in attendance at the “Families in Foreclosure” Forum. In recent times, she has witnessed an evolution in people’s misfortunes, starting with the decline of the housing market, then leading to a general economic downturn where people fear losing their jobs.
“We have been seeing a lot of people in financial crisis during the last year, as a result of the housing collapse and now unemployment,” she said. “A year ago, when the housing industry collapsed, we were seeing a lot of construction workers. After that we saw the next wave, professionals who service the industry like home suppliers, Realtors and mortgage lenders.”
And while the housing slump has had a major impact on the economy, the prospect of people suddenly finding themselves without their livelihood is even more of a burden. “I see a lot of emotional stress in the family between the husband and wife, and it trickles down to the children. It’s just a mess right now,” Madden said.
And the crisis is enveloping a wider range of people than in the past. “The face of the poor has changed in the last year. Now you’re seeing professional people being affected, people with degrees, people with half-million- dollar homes; something they’ve never had to face before. “I hear it weekly: ‘I never thought I’d be in this position.’
Now we’re seeing the collateral damage of the housing collapse. Everybody’s being hit now.” Madden said she will listen attentively during the session, trying to ascertain the needs of the community. Her goal is to establish an ongoing support group for families and individuals who are struggling during this harsh economic climate.
A support group, she said, can help people deal with individual issues such as unemployment, financial problems and family communication. Meanwhile, at the Foreclosure Prevention Forum, the first of a series of educational forums sponsored by Orange County, representatives from local churches have been invited to attend, along with area counseling agencies.
But the emphasis will be on how to avoid foreclosure, including such topics as Short Sales, Talking To Your Bank, Loan Modification Options, Restructuring Your Finances and Avoiding Foreclosure Scams.
The need for sound financial advice is evident, especially as the crisis deepens. Unfortunately, families across the country, and especially in Florida, are losing their homes at a rate not equaled since the Great Depression. Nationwide, foreclosures were filed on 233,001 properties in January, which is 8 percent more than December 2007 and 57 percent more than January 2007, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
Also in January, the Sunshine State reported the second-highest number of total foreclosure filings in the country, growing by 158 percent year-over-year to total 30,178. In Orange County alone, approximately 500 families are entering the foreclosure process every week.
The Orange County Clerk of Courts Office, which processes foreclosures, reports that foreclosure filings have doubled from 5,094 in 2006 to 10,486 in 2007. Already, the numbers for 2008 are on track to exceed last year.
East Orange County, because of its home-building boom during the last few years, is one of the hardest hit areas. “We know there’s a lot of foreclosures out there, with people having difficulty with mortgages that they maybe shouldn’t have been given in the first place,” said Mitchell Glasser, manager of the Orange County Housing and Community Development Division.
“Banks are willing to renegotiate people’s mortgages that are in default because they don’t want the homes. There are specific steps to take if you are falling behind on your mortgage payments and slipping into foreclosure.”
Foreclosure forums
- FORECLOSURE PREVENTION
10 a.m.-noon, Saturday, April 5 Renaissance Senior Center 3800 S. Econlockhatchee Trail
- FAMILIES IN FORECLOSURE
1-2:30 p.m., Sunday, April 13 Stone Lakes Elementary School 15200 Stoneybrook Blvd.
(Refreshments and babysitting will be provided)
