Praying for Relief for Homeowners

The government has enacted a similar plan to the PICO proposal, to reconfigure loans so they are 38 percent of household income, but it only applies to loans owned by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a few private sector lenders.

Clergy members with the PICO National Network say the government hasn't done enough to help individuals facing foreclosure. On Nov. 18, 2008, they presented a proposed plan to Treasury Department officials and held a demonstration.

(ABC News)
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PICO's proposal echoes similar calls from congressional Democrats who want to see more government action to help individual homeowners. The group says it has found several allies on Capitol Hill, led by Rep Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

That committee held a hearing today to assess the administration's use of the bailout package so far. Democrats blasted Paulson for rejecting a plan proposed by FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair that would restructure troubled mortgages.

"It's not a silver bullet but it will be a huge reduction in the foreclosures that you are seeing right now," Bair told the committee.

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"She has been able to come up with a way by which we can do credible loan modifications, and it is being ignored," Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said at the hearing.

Paulson acknowledged that more needs to be done to help homeowners, telling lawmakers, "I hear your frustration, more needs to be done and we're going to keep working on it."

Many of the faith leaders at today's gathering have gotten a close look at the human effects of the country's economic crisis, hearing of the problems from more and more of their congregants.

"The congregation is on the front lines," Kolin said. "Often the church is the first to know when something goes wrong."

"When people are in trouble and have exhausted their reserves, they come to the church for help," Webb said.

Pastor Bill Knezovich knows this too well. Three families in his congregation are either foreclosed or facing foreclosure. In one family facing foreclosure, the mother works three jobs while the father works split shifts in order to support their three children.

"These aren't people who aren't doing anything," Knezovich said. "Our hope is that Paulson and the rest of the government wake up to the need for modified loans so people who want to pay their mortgages can do so."