Catholic Charities assists struggling homeowners in Richland County |
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Written by LAURIE STEVENS BERTKE, Chronicle Writer
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Friday, 03 April 2009 01:00 |
MANSFIELD—In response to a rising tide of foreclosures in Richland County, the Mansfield office of Catholic Charities of the Toledo Diocese has introduced new services to help homeowners in crisis.
"We really encourage people to be proactive, because we can help," says Rebecca Owens, site manager and program coordinator for the Catholic Charities Community Emergency Services program in Mansfield.
Community Emergency Services has served Richland County for many years by operating a food pantry and providing assistance with rent, mortgage and utility bills, medical expenses and prescriptions. Clients also receive financial education through a workshop called LifeSkills, which covers budgeting, payday lending, identity theft, credit reporting and other topics related to money management.
Recently, the Catholic Charities office in Mansfield was selected by the Richland County Foreclosure Task Force to assist with the foreclosure crisis and it has added financial counseling for homeowners to its roster of services. In Richland County, it is the only financial counseling agency certified through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In addition, the Mansfield office has broadened the scope of its education to include topics such as purchasing a home, homeowner responsibilities and how to avoid foreclosure.
These services are free to residents of Richland County, which has experienced a dramatic rise in foreclosures over the past decade.
Last year the county had 834 foreclosure filings, compared to 639 in 2006, 570 in 2004 and 421 in 2002. Donnie Mitchell, the Fair Housing officer for Mansfield-Richland County, says the surge in foreclosures has hurt property values, driving the average value of a home in Richland County down from $112,188 in 2005 to $84,853 in 2008.
"It has hit Richland County pretty hard, and it’s affected everybody," says Ms. Owens.
"The face of our clientele has changed so much in the last six months," she adds. "We have a lot of people seeking services that have never had to do so ever in their lifetime."
Any client seeking assistance at Community Emergency Services meets first with a caseworker to review their household bills and budget. The caseworker can also provide the client with referrals to other community agencies for support.
Ms. Owens explains clients might be dealing with job loss, severe medical expenses, mental health issues or other serious challenges in their lives.
"We’re approaching this from a holistic standpoint," says Ms. Owens. "We realize that the financial piece and the foreclosure piece are maybe just one piece."
Once a client has met with the caseworker, he or she attends a LifeSkills group workshop and also receives one-on-one financial counseling.
Cheryl Lee, who owns a home inspection and pest control company in Marion called InspectOhio and a basement waterproofing company called Aqua Guard Ohio with her husband, is one of more than a dozen volunteers from various backgrounds who recently trained to become financial counselors for Catholic Charities. She says her role is to provide support for clients and offer an ìobjective eyeî in helping them assess their spending and trim their household budgets.
"A lot of people just need to have sounding boards," says Mrs. Lee.
After undergoing financial counseling at Catholic Charities, clients are referred to Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP), a nonprofit specializing in foreclosure prevention advocacy that is located within the same office as Catholic Charities. ESOP can negotiate with the homeowner’s lender for an affordable modification to the loan.
Ms. Owens notes the organization has a high success rate on stopping foreclosures, and she encourages people to seek help early.
"You don’t have to get to the point where you have the sheriff showing up on your doorstep," she says.
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For more information about services or to volunteer as a financial counselor with Catholic Charities, call 419-524-0733.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 04 June 2009 09:09 |
