This week on Jacksonville's Morning News, WOKV's Tiffany Griffith takes a closer look at what it means for the First Coast in our three-part series, "Home Today, Gone Tomorrow".

Hear Part Three

The image of another foreclosed home on the auction block has become uncomfortably common across Northeast Florida.

But elected leaders on the local, state and national level says they're pursuing legislation to help you hold on to your home.

In Washington, U.S. Senator Mel Martinez is confident that the recently passed economic stimulus plan will help turn the housing industry around, but he says that's just a start.

The FHA Modernization Act has passed in the Senate and awaits the House and President's approval.

Martinez is also teaming up with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alfonso Jackson to the Promote Hope Now program.

Closer to home, Governor Charlie Crist signed into law last October a bill that criminalizes mortgage fraud for the first time in Florida.

The state also just received $1.3 million for foreclosure counseling.

Plus, Crist recently organized a foreclosure prevention task force.

The state's chief financial officer Alex Sink says her office is also providing help to homeowners.

Local leaders are also fighting back against foreclosure. In January, the Jacksonville City Council appropriated nearly $263-thousand to a foreclosure prevention trust fund.

Michael Figgins with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid says his office is also available to assist Northeast Florida foreclosure victims.

Authorities on every level want to make sure you have the information to avoid foreclosure.

• Foreclosure Help
• 995 Hope
• Foreclosure Help and Hope
• Hope Now

Hear Part Two

All it takes is one major expense to put some families at risk of losing their homes. No one knows that better than Willie Smith. "My daughter was having some medical issues that I was unaware of for some time, and she was not paying her mortgage".

She was four months behind on her mortgage payment when Smith stepped in.

"When I attempted to pay the four months that she was behind, they did not accept it because they had filed for foreclosure on her".

After getting the runaround from the mortgage company, Smith says he got some last minute help from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.

"The monthly mortgage payment dropped, interest rate dropped. She only had to pay a very small amount".

Smith was able to salvage the Arlington home for his daughter and three grandsons.

Sadly, his daughter passed away in February.

"A very loving mother. Before she got ill she was doing everything she was supposed to with regards to taking care of her family".

And that's just the impact to a single family.

Michael Figgins with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid says the complications of just a single foreclosed home can mean problems for the entire city.

"The home is abandoned because no one can sell it, and it becomes a sight for crime, it's a blight in the neighborhood. So not only does that property lose value, the properties adjacent, the properties nearby lose value, there's more police presence and fire presence".

And a cost to the entire community.

"It's just a spiraling cost. It's estimated that every foreclosed home costs $30,000 to the city of Jacksonville".

Multiply that times the hundreds of homes facing foreclosure on the First Coast, and that's a high price for you to pay.

So what can be done to turn this troubling trend around?

Listen for part three of WOKV's Series "Home Today, Gone Tomorrow".

WOKV's Tiffany Griffith will share with you what's being done on the local, state and federal level to make sure northeast Florida residents always have a place to call home.

That's on Wednesday on Jacksonville's Morning News.

Hear Part One

You take out your keys. Open the door. And after a busy day, you've reached the place you call home. It's the dream of homeownership. But for many in our nation and right here on the first coast, that dream is slipping away.

"In Jacksonville, it is estimated, that some 600 families are evicted every month," says U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson.

According to foreclosure.com, close to 750 homes are currently under foreclosure in Jacksonville, nearly 60 in Clay County, over 70 in St. Johns and just over 30 in Nassau. They're numbers that leave Florida's Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink stunned.

"Wow!" says Sink, "The problems of foreclosures are really tremendous here in Jacksonville. This community has been affected more than many others in Florida."

National leaders, like U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, are also alarmed.

"The state of Florida is number two in foreclosures in the country. That is not a statistic we can be proud of," says Martinez. "And when you think about that, it isn't just a family that is torn up when they lose their home. We're talking about a neighborhood. And we're talking about a community. We're talking about cities."

But why are so many on the first coast falling victim to foreclosure? Sink says there are many culprits and they've had their hands on Northeast Florida since 2002.

"The whole idea that there were many, many investors willing to invest in the subprime mortgages that were written to people, who may have had poor credit history, but many were sucked in by overly aggressive sales people," says Sink.

Even those who didn't fall for subprime scams, found themselves in a desperate situation to save their homes in today's struggling economy.

"Foreclosure often, too often, comes as a surprise," says Jackson. "We had a survey done and what it shows was families being foreclosed did not discuss before hand with their mortgage counselor or their lender, because they were ashamed of facing foreclosure."

But you may not be losing your home, so how does this effect you? On Tuesday's Jacksonville's Morning News, well explain how foreclosures are taking money out of your wallet. You'll also see how quickly your situation could change. I'll bring you the story of an Arlington mother who never thought she would have to decide between affording a home for her family, and battling a terminal illness.