Video: Group helping homeowners facing foreclosure overwhelmed

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SEATTLE - For homeowners caught up in the mortgage meltdown, finding help to save their homes is getting tougher. A Seattle non-profit group helps those facing foreclosure, but the small office is overwhelmed. 

The prospect of losing your home to foreclosure can be frightening, devastating and emotional. The non-profit agency called Solid Ground helps navigate the ins and outs of the complicated process and how to hopefully save your house. But with a 50 percent increase in calls and cuts in funding, the program is also facing hard times. 

The signs posted in front of homes show us only too well what is going on behind closed doors: foreclosure. What can you do? Call Solid Ground, a non-profit agency that helps people who are facing foreclosure. 

They help owners figure out the complicated and many times frightening process. 

"Folks just don't know what to do or what's going to happen next. I think if folks can walk away with at least I can do this much I can start here," said Donna Dziak, program manager at Solid Ground. 

But with the subprime mortgage loan mess, foreclosures have spiked. The agency has seen a huge increase in calls. 

"Last week we had about 55 calls and we're on track to have the same number this week. It's way more than we can handle," said Erin Reardon, mortgage counselor. 

Solid Ground is hoping for more volunteers, but there's a catch. Volunteers must have the necessary financial background, but can not currently be employed by the mortgage industry because that would be a conflict of interest. For now the office has two full time counselors to handle the load. 

"We're really caught between a rock and a hard place helping folks navigate this difficult time, but also just being limited by the resources that are available to us," said Dziak. 

Solid Ground just learned that funding from the federal government has been cut by 20 percent. King County also gives them money and they expect that to be cut as well. 

As for volunteers, they're hoping retirees from the industry or people who have gone into another line of work will step up.