"What happens to the lives of people daily is important," said Jean Beil, a spokeswoman for Catholic Charities USA. "God calls us to care for the poor."
Nationwide, lenders filed foreclosure-related documents against almost 650,000 homes in the first three months of the year, more than double the number in the same period last year, according to California-based RealtyTrac Inc., which monitors the market across the country.
New York City saw more than 6,000 foreclosure filings in just the first three months of this year, out of more than 14,000 statewide - a 40 percent increase over last year, according to the New York State Banking Department. Brooklyn and Queens alone represented about a third of the state's defaults, clustered in the boroughs' minority neighborhoods.
In response to the crisis, 10 churches in Brooklyn and Queens have offered workshops this year to counsel anyone who shows up - church members or not - on how to avert foreclosure and the so-called predatory lending that can make financial victims of homeowners.
Around the country, Catholic Charities USA, the Alexandria, Va.-based umbrella group for its member relief agencies in various states, is running programs similar to the ones in New York. The national group says it has helped more than 4,000 homeowners in a dozen communities from Atlanta to Santa Rosa, Calif.
While other religious groups or cultural associations have taken some steps, and various Christian denominations offer real estate advice, the Roman Catholic Church seems to have made the largest concerted effort to address the foreclosure crisis.
But these faith-based efforts "are just a drop in the bucket," Beil acknowledged.
Last week, the US House of Representatives passed legislation aimed at helping half a million homeowners facing possible foreclosure. President Bush has threatened to veto it, calling it a taxpayer-funded bailout.
Meanwhile, many homeowners are desperate for help.
At the recent workshop in Queens, parishioners at Christ the King Church filled out financial forms to prepare for appointments with counselors from a national housing activist group.
