A few of the nation’s big-city mayors will gather in Detroit next Tuesday to address the growing foreclosure crisis and its impact on American families, property values, neighborhood blight and crime.

Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of the third-ranked metropolitan area in the numbers of home foreclosures, is leading the meeting along with Trenton, N.J., Mayor Douglas H. Palmer.

The group of mayors will meet with leading nonprofit counseling agencies, mortgage providers and financial institutions to discuss crisis intervention strategies, loan modification and rescue programs and the maintenance and management of foreclosed properties to mitigate their negative effects on neighborhoods.

Recently, Cleveland has illustrated one violent example of what can happen when an inner city neighborhood is left alone – all its working-class homeowners forced to move due to foreclosures. CNN reported Monday that Slavic Village, a neighborhood in Cleveland known as the "worst neighborhood in the nation for foreclosures," has seen a rising crime wave sparked by the vacant homes.

During the Detroit meeting, mayors will also release a report highlighting the economic ripple impact of the foreclosure crisis on U.S. cities/metros -- specifically cities in Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio where the effects of the crisis are most prominent.

This meeting will be closed to the media, but mayors will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. at the MGM Grand Hotel in the Grand Salon #3.

The Conference’s legislative agenda, also known as the Mayors’ Ten Point Plan, highlights affordable housing and access to homeownership as a priority.

Also scheduled to attend are the mayors of Louisville, Ky; Columbus, Ohio; Bowling Green, Ky.; Southfield, Mich., and Lauderhill, Fla.

In a related announcement, a Detroit group calling itself the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice is planning a meeting Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. to "demand that Gov. Granholm impose a moratorium to stop foreclosures and utility shutoffs in Michigan."

The meeting will take place at the Central United Methodist Church at Grand Circus Park in Detroit.

The meeting follows a call from U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus, for a similar moratorium on all foreclosures.

For those who might be facing foreclosure, here are a couple of places to start looking for help:

FHASecure: FHASecure is a government sponsored refinancing option that gives credit-worthy homeowners who were making timely mortgage payments before their loans reset a second chance with an FHA-insured loan.

Housing and Urban Development, Michigan: The federal department has tips for Michiganians on how to avoid foreclosure.