Charities Struggle to Address Foreclosure Crisis

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that charities across the country are struggling with how to help the hundreds of thousands of families who are facing foreclosure.   And there is no end in sight; the Center for Responsible Lending estimates that another 2.2 million or more families will face foreclosure over the next few years.  The Open Society Institute has granted $2 million to help establish the Center for New York City Neighborhoods in cooperation with the City of New York, which will focus on foreclosure solutions, and a previous blog entry describes the work of ACORN Housing in this area, but most other charities are still trying to determine how best to respond.  Possible options include seeking additional government funding to expand services to help families facing foreclosure and legislative changes.  At the same time, charities that already do work in the foreclosure area are seeing demand for their services skyrocket, as previously blogged with respect to legal services in Maryland.

lhm