When Crystal Eastwood nearly lost her Clintonville-area house to foreclosure two years ago, she turned to the Columbus Housing Partnership for help.

Eastwood said the nonprofit organization helped her keep her home. Now, Eastwood is helping the partnership help others in the same situation.

Eastwood's televised message is part of a marketing program for a statewide, toll-free hot line designed to aid homeowners who face foreclosure.

The Homeownership Preservation hot line is maintained by NeighborWorks America , a national group dedicated to educating people about homeownership.

" Ohio has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, so we saw a need for working on the issue," said Amy Klaben, president of the Columbus Housing Partnership. "We found we cannot handle all the calls coming in."

The Columbus Housing Partnership will promote the hot line through public-service announcements, as well as through marketing posters donated by the Columbus Foundation. Eastwood taped a segment for the TV messages, which will be shown by eight local stations. Radio messages will be broadcast on 11 stations.

Policy Matters Ohio, based in Cleveland , said recently there were nearly 65,000 foreclosures in Ohio in 2005, up 8.5 percent from the previous year.

A bill to toughen state laws for mortgage brokers and lenders is to be taken up by a House-Senate subcommittee this spring.

Klaben said the housing partnership counseled more than 400 people last year, double the number in 2004. That's proof, she said, that the hot line is necessary.

NeighborWorks America 's hot line was established in 2003. The people who answer are in offices along the East Coast, said Marietta Rodriguez, interim director of NeighborWorks America 's Campaign for Home Ownership.

NeighborWorks America has more than 245 members, which include the Columbus Housing Partnership. Its certified counselors help guide homeowners through bank foreclosure by suggesting financial remedies, acting as a liaison between the borrower and the lender, or encouraging the homeowners to meet with their local housing partnership.

Options for borrowers facing foreclosure include delaying payments, refinancing the mortgage loan, creating a new payment plan or selling the home before the bank forecloses on it.

Two banks in central Ohio , JPMorgan Chase and National City , are working with the housing partnership to smooth that transition. Jeff Lyttle, spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, said the bank also has a toll-free line for its customers.

Lyttle said many homeowners facing foreclosure are afraid to contact their lenders.

"There's a lot of anxiety about contacting lenders," he said. "We want people to stay in their homes. Not everyone understands that."

Eastwood was six months behind on her mortgage payments when she went to the housing partnership for advice. Netta Whitman, a Columbus Housing Partnership counselor, helped Eastwood keep her home by negotiating new loan terms with Eastwood's lender.

"They helped me and my family," Eastman said.