Families facing foreclosure find themselves adrift in a new world order with no idea how to navigate it. The loss of a home is much, much more than the loss of a residence. Regardless of the lies they were told by banks and mortgage companies — or the poor choices they may have made as part of the process — few knew their path would lead to foreclosure. How could they? No one else did either. It grows clearer each day that the magnitude of the loss of hopes, dreams and futures symbolized by foreclosure, combined with the major challenges of finding a new place to live and a new way of living, is proving insurmountable for some.
The depth of despair felt by foreclosure’s victims is causing some to contemplate or to resort to suicide and murder. The growing number of men and women experiencing feelings of failure, hopelessness and helplessness makes the need for services and support greater than ever, at a time when such services and support are less available than ever. This harsh reality creates the need and the opportunity for friends, family, workplaces and communities to play a more significant role in the lives of those they care about and work with.
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Each of us is only responsible for our own lives and futures, but we have the ability to make a contribution to the well-being of others in numerous ways. Several examples include:
Friends and family
Be a good listener. Sometimes that is all that someone struggling with financial problems needs. By listening you have the opportunity to learn how much help the person who is speaking needs, whether you can provide that help, or if you know where that person can go for help.
Separate the outcome from the person. In the midst of foreclosure it may be difficult for someone to remember that foreclosure was the result of many circumstances beyond the control of the individual as well as those within their control. What happened in the past cannot be changed, but the future is waiting to be created and provides many better prospects if the lessons learned are used wisely.
Be pragmatically positive. Anyone who has experienced foreclosure is likely to view the world negatively. Help re-frame this view by discussing short-term goals and steps toward creating a new, different and better future.
Encourage continuation of religious affiliations and beliefs. Religious affiliations and beliefs can provide support, along with the foundation for acceptance and change.
In the workplace
Pay attention to the warning signs. These include missed deadlines, appointments, meetings or work. Use these occasions to refer to employee assistance programs or to discuss the problems with the employee as nonjudgmentally as possible.
Be proactive. Create financial education classes and support groups.
Create a system for helping employees with financial problems. In addition to providing help and support to these employees, the goals of such a system would be to reduce problems in the workplace, to improve productivity and to reduce health care costs.
In the community
Know what resources are available to help. This facilitates access for those who are too devastated to look for, or to find, the services they need.
Advocate for more services. The need for services will continue to overwhelm the current service providers available; the need for additional services will persist.
Volunteer. If you have the time and the skills, use them.
Raise consciousness of the need for services through guest commentaries and letters to the editor. The repercussions of foreclosure will inevitably continue to bleed into everyone’s life and community. It will reduce the ability of those who experience it to think clearly and to make better choices and increase their potential to grow less engaged at home, at work and with life. It will affect the lives of everyone who cares about them and the communities in which they live.
If you think foreclosure has nothing to do with you, think again.
Nationally known motivational speaker and expert Reeta Wolfsohn is the founder of the financial social work discipline (www.financialsocialwork.com,) and the Center for Financial Social Work, in Asheville, N.C. Reeta is a certified social worker, therapist, author and motivational speaker on the topic of money from a psychosocial perspective.
