Advocates urge funding to halt foreclosures

In the wake of state and federal cutbacks, advocates are seeking help to keep people in their homes.

Funding cuts on the state and federal levels will hurt programs that attempt to save people who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.

Liz Hersh of the Philadelphia Housing Alliance said government officials must come up with a solution to the problem.

“And to urge Harrisburg and D.C. to work together to fix these programs, if they are not working, and to sustain them to help homeowners we still need to help out there on the street,” said Hersh. “We are asking Harrisburg and D.C. to keep these successful programs in place.”

Sharon Greene is one person who needed help to save her home. She’s still worried.

“Every month, I am peeping out my window, wondering if someone is going to knock on my door and tell me that I have to leave,” said Greene.

George Gould, an attorney with Community Legal Services, said it’s the programs that are working are under attack.

“Philadelphia has become a national model, as to what can be done to prevent foreclosures,” said Gould. “Yet we are now threatened from all sides–refusing to take action and refusing to continue to fund programs that have been successful.”

Without government funding, the groups say the programs won’t work.