MADISON, Wis. -- More and more people in Dane County are losing their homes to foreclosure, but some area groups are stepping up to help homeowners.

A Web site is allowing those facing foreclosure to find help to stay in their homes in the privacy of their own living room.

"This Web site is designed for those people to go to in their own homes, where they're most comfortable doing that kind of thing. (It gives) step-by-step guidance on where they should go, who they should talk to and the things they should be thinking about," said Joe Murray, with the Wisconsin Realtors Association.

The Realtors Association is offering online help through its Web site in an effort to stem what's now a rapidly growing trend in the area.

From May to June of this year, foreclosures in Dane, Columbia and Iowa counties rose 52 percent. June foreclosures are up 91 percent compared to last year.

"We definitely saw a wave of foreclosures in the past year as a result of the sub-prime and predatory lending practices," said Dan O'Callaghan, an attorney with the Dane County Foreclosure Prevention Task Force. "Now what we're seeing is a rise that some attribute to unemployment."

The Dane County Foreclosure Prevention Task Force also plans to provide in-person help to families at a workshop on Aug. 1.

"We're going to be working with homeowners to do education, so they understand the process. Then (we're going) to help them fill out an application that we're going to send in to their servicer seeking a loan modification," said O'Callaghan.

All the groups emphasized that foreclosure isn't a foregone conclusion.

"Not every person or home that is served with a notice of foreclosure has to go into foreclosure," said Murray. "There are ways to avoid it."

The "Fix Your Loan, Keep Your Home" workshop is set for 9 a.m. to noon on Aug. 1 at the Madison Area Technical College Truax campus. People planning to attend the workshop need to bring a number of documents with them. The documents are listed at daneforeclosurehelp.org.

People can visit the Realtors Association Web site to get foreclosure assistance at www.wisconsinforeclosurekit.org.