Foreclosures leading to newly homeless families seeking aid

The increasing amount of homeowners who are falling victim to bad credit forced into foreclosure are leading to an increase in those who have never faced the prospect of not having a home before seeking assistance from homeless shelters and organizations.

According to a new report – titled "Foreclosure to Homelessness 2009" – that was published by seven different national homeless foundations, 79 percent of the organizations that responded to the survey questions said that at least "some" of the clients they were working with became homeless as a result of a recent foreclosure.

Additionally, the survey found that more than half of the respondents thought that more than 10 percent of their clients became homeless after the home they were living in most recently had fallen into foreclosure.

"These families never needed help before," said Larry Haynes, executive director of Mercy House in Santa Ana, California, told the New York Times. "They haven’t a clue about where to go, and they have all sorts of humiliation issues. They don’t even know what to say, what to ask for."

The survey also found that while the respondents felt the many (86 percent) of those who had been forced out of their homes had moved in with family or friends, they also felt that up to 61 percent had gone to homeless shelters, 26 percent had moved into a hotel, and 21 percent may be out on the streets.