Loretta King hears the desperate stories: "I'm getting divorced." "I'm sick." "I lost my job."

Last year, a young mother of two came into King's Columbus Housing Partnership office saying she'd had brain surgery and was forced to quit work. Now, the Franklin County sheriff's office had set a date within weeks to sell her home.

Those facing similar foreclosure threats can now look up, literally, for help.

The Franklin County commissioners voted yesterday to pay $12,500 for 36 billboards advertising a toll-free hot line that offers central Ohioans advice on how to hold onto their homes.

The housing partnership, which will oversee the project, put up six test billboards a few weeks ago in anticipation of receiving the grant. Soon after, the number of calls to the line from central Ohio increased significantly.

Ohio leads the nation, for the second year in a row, in the number of mortgage foreclosures filed. A bankers association pinned foreclosures in the state during the third quarter of 2006 at 3.32 percent. The national figure for the same period was 1.5 percent. A recent study by Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland-based nonprofit group, found that one out of every 71 Ohio households filed for foreclosure in 2005.

"We see a lot of reasons why people can't pay their mortgage. Most often though, life just hit them and set them in a tailspin," said King, a housing counselor with the partnership.

For the young mother who needed brain surgery, the partnership obtained Ohio Department of Development grants that provide as much as $3,000 to satisfy banks and halt foreclosures. King declined to identify the woman citing confidentiality rules.

More than 1,000 central Ohioans phoned the hot line, 1-888-995-HOPE (4673) last year. The national hot line is operated 24 hours a day by the Home Ownership Preservation Foundation. Callers from Franklin County are referred to the Columbus Housing Partnership.

The nonprofit partnership, which provides free classes to prospective homebuyers, sees everyone from the poor to the suburban affluent who are about to lose their homes, said Paul Haggard , its director of resource development. The partnership can be reached directly at 614-221-8889, Ext. 134.

A few billboards will appear for a month or so at a time at various locations around the county throughout the year.