For homeowners and homebuyers facing the prospect of foreclosure, the message is that help is just a phone call away.
A media campaign launched this week by the Baltimore Homeownership Preservation Coalition offers a link to nonprofit housing counselors through a 24-hour phone number, 888-995-HOPE.
“We want to give people a sense of hope,” said Sally Scott, co-chairwoman of the coalition. “There?s a lot of fear and denial when people are in danger of foreclosure. We want to help people to break through that, to reach out through this national hot line to talk to their lenders directly.”
The campaign is a collaboration between Baltimore firms GVE Media/Public Relations and Bark @ the Moon Studios, and includes 10 billboards and 180 city bus posters.
Thirty-second radio spots on WWIN-FM 95.9, WERQ-FM 92Q, WCAO-AM Heaven 600 and WWMX-FM Mix 106.5 began airing Monday, and will run through the end of February.
Professional housing counselors will staff the coalition hot line and can provide callers with information and access to lenders as well as local agencies for follow-up contact.
State officials praised the group?s outreach program but said it was one solution of many needed to resolve the foreclosure crisis.
“We don?t have silver bullets, we need silver buckshot, we need any way you can reach [people],” said Thomas Perez, state secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. “We know the African-American and Latino populations use mass transit, so why not put ads on the side of a bus. It?s one of a series of things that has to be done.”
Scott said the campaign would be a first step in a wider effort to reach those most affected by the troubled credit market.
“This problem will continue at high levels well into 2009 and we need to reach people,” she said.
