HOUSTON -- Roughly 1,000 Houston homeowners started their weekend early Saturday by attending a workshop at Lakewood Church. It was a rare chance for homeowners to meet face to face with their mortgage companies, KPRC Local 2 reported.

"I am about 60 days behind on my mortgage," said Debra Marshall.

Marshall said she is not afraid to ask for help. She said she is a delivery truck driver and is working hard. She said Hurricane Ike and a cutback in work hours put her behind. She said she wants to keep her Greenspoint area home and came to the workshop by the advice of her lender.

According to experts, fear typically gets the best of people when they are facing foreclosure.

"One out of two borrowers who need assistance who go into foreclosure, they do that without reaching out for help," said Larry Gilmore, director of Hope Now Alliance.

The organization works with lenders across the country and the focus is to keep homeowners in their homes. Each case is different, but the homeowner gets one-on-one face time with the lender to modify or restructure a mortgage so the homeowner can afford monthly payments.

Hope Now has conducted workshops across the country. Before coming to Houston, the organization sent out more than 19,000 letters to borrowers who are 60 days or more behind on their mortgage payment.

"One of the key advantages of our alliance, working with those 27 mortgage services, we go into a local community we know exactly who is at risk of going into foreclosure. Part of our marketing campaign is we send those letters to the borrowers to come out and receive that assistance," said Gillmore.

As for Marshall, she said she was happy for the help and is confident she will keep her most prized possession.

Hope Now has a 24-hour hot line set up to answer questions and provide help. Homeowners can call 888-995-HOPE.