More than 3,500 families in danger of foreclosure have contacted the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network and 800 are now attempting to renegotiate home loans, according to Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman.

The lieutenant governor cited the network figures Wednesday at the Northwest Indiana Housing Summit held at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza. The state's foreclosure prevention effort began in January.

"Historically, Hoosiers and other Americans are reluctant about reaching out for help," Skillman said. "If there's one message we can get out, it's that there are trusted advisers who can help."

Realty Trac, which tracks home foreclosures across the nation, reported 234,685 homes were in some stage of the foreclosure process in March, a 57 percent increase compared to a year before.

Skillman spoke just an hour before homeowners in danger of foreclosure started showing up for one-on-one sessions with bankers to find if they could save their homes.

Some 500 people were invited to the sessions by area banks and lenders, according to the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network. Lenders meeting with borrowers included U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

There are some indications Indiana's effort may be paying off. There was a slight dip in the number of homes in Indiana in the foreclosure process in March as compared to the month before, according to Realty Trac.

Skillman announced another effort to prevent homelessness at the summit.

The state is kicking off a Permanent Supportive Housing initiative to provide 1,100 units of housing for people in danger of homelessness because of substance abuse or other mental health problems, Skillman said.

The effort also will include establishing an institute in Bloomington to train local social service agencies in setting up and maintaining supportive housing.

Skillman said the foreclosure problem in Indiana is most concentrated in Indianapolis, in the industrialized towns along the Interstate 69 corridor and in industrialized areas of northern Indiana.

The ACORN Housing Corp., a division of the activist group ACORN, also has been providing help in renegotiating mortgages for people throughout Northwest Indiana, according to local ACORN organizer Eric Weathersby.

The group has received 150 calls from people in danger of having homes foreclosed, with 65 of those coming in for assistance in working out new terms for their mortgages.