When dawn broke Christmas morning, Kendra Jackson smiled as she watched her 11-year-old daughter tear shiny, red wrapping paper from a gift. Then she began to cry.
"I'm so blessed," she said.
It was the first Christmas in years that Jackson, an Amtrak worker and single mother, wasn't in fear of foreclosure on her Dorchester three-decker. "I see all those people who do lose their homes, and I just say, 'Lord, thank you.' "
Jackson is one of 217 Boston homeowners who were in danger of losing their house this year but averted foreclosure with help from the little-known Boston Home Center, a free counseling and lender-liaison service founded by Mayor Thomas M. Menino that started a foreclosure intervention program last year.
The program, created to combat the skyrocketing foreclosure rate in the city, runs a hotline for homeowners, 617-635-HOME. Counselors refer callers to programs that meet their needs and track their progress. The center also works directly with lenders to broker new loans or make existing ones more affordable.
Like a similar $250 million program unveiled this year by the state, though, the Home Center has struggled to attract eligible borrowers and is trying to spread the message that help is available. Lenders foreclosed on 743 homes in Suffolk County between January and October this year, according to the Warren Group, which tracks housing market data.
"Homeowners in mortgage trouble are often hesitant to call for help," said Bill Cotter, deputy director of the city's Department of Neighborhood Development, which runs the Home Center. "The earlier folks call for help, the more we can do for them."
Jackson had never heard of the program before a neighborhood development organization referred her in February.
She was about to refinance her Callendar Street home with a lender who had promised to pay off all her debt - her car loan and credit card balances, as well as her existing adjustable-rate mortgage that just kept adjusting upward, sending her monthly payments from $2,377 to more than $3,600 in only three years. The new loan included $9,000 in fees and a balloon payment of thousands of dollars in two years.
Jackson, desperate to buy some time and save her home, decided to take the offer even though she didn't know how she would come up with the lump-sum payment when it came due. But a rider on a loan she received a few years ago required her to seek approval for the new mortgage from the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, which had provided the earlier loan for repairs and de-leading of her home. The organization would not approve the risky new loan and sent her to the Home Center.
At the time, Jackson's credit score was dismal and she was months behind on her mortgage payments. Jackson was almost ready to give up the struggle.
She had dreamed of homeownership since she was a child, growing up as one of six kids in a three-bedroom apartment in Roxbury public housing. In 2001 she bought the blue house on Callendar Street with a fixed-rate loan and affordable payments.
But during the real estate market boom a few years later, Jackson refinanced her mortgage in an effort to lower her payments and get a better interest rate.
"It seemed like everybody was refinancing," Jackson said. "I didn't know anything about the adjustable rate."
As the loan payments shot upward, Jackson fell further behind and her credit score plummeted, making it nearly impossible for her to qualify for a more standard and affordable loan.
"I was hysterical," Jackson said. "I was all ready to say, 'Forget it, let my house go.' "
The Home Center and the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation worked with Jackson on her finances, and
"June 26th, I signed the papers," Jackson said, a note of victory in her voice as she sat next to her daughter in their spacious living room in their second-floor apartment.
Jackson soon began to ponder the challenges of homeownership that the new year will bring.
Her sister, who rents the third floor, is thinking of moving out. Her tenant on the first floor just gave 30 days notice. She's not sure how she'll fill their spots. The new paint on her front porch is peeling and a falling tree damaged a gutter on the side of her house.
"That's OK," she said with a smile. "I've been through worse."
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.
