Toni Richards was visibly angry. Her eyes were afire and her hands moved erratically as she relayed to the crowd gathered in the fifth floor elevator lobby of the Cook County Building how she’s losing her home to foreclosure.

 The 60-year-old Roseland resident said she was forced to scale back her work hours when her mother fell ill with cancer almost two decades ago. Although her mother died in 2007, Richards became unemployed taking care of her, and subsequently fell behind on her mortgage payments.

“We’ve been devastated by these foreclosures,” Richards said. “There’s so much despair. We have got to get our families back together.”

The county budget, released late last month, did not allocate any funding for foreclosure counseling and court mediation, Action Now members said.

“We need court mediation,” Richards said, demanding to see Stroger. “These people don't know what to do. There's no one to fight for them.”

According to a recent report released by New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice, up to 86 percent of foreclosure victims in hard-hit areas of the United States did not have access to lawyers last year.

“There is a lot of demand for legal counsel,” said Daniel Lindsey, supervisory attorney with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. “It makes a huge difference…. If there is a legal claim, often people may not know how to present it.”

Action Now members believe many of the 53,000 foreclosure filings predicted for Chicago this year could be prevented if the majority of homeowners have access to legal representation.

The community organization is urging Stroger to use some of the money raised from foreclosure filing fees to pay for these preventive measures.

“If people had court mediation they probably would've been able to save their homes,” said Action Now member Gloria Warner, 58, of West Englewood. “It’s ridiculous homeowners have to pay to file, but can’t receive any help.”

Homeowners are ultimately responsible for paying court filing fees when their lenders decide to foreclose on their property. Lenders initially pay the fees, usually upwards of $300, but they often charge them to homeowners as attorney, inspection and other fees, Lindsey said.

“For a mediation program to be done properly, you need city funds, and others could come from the county or the state,” Lindsey said.  He noted filing fees might be a funding option, "but probably [lenders] will pass that on to consumers.”

During the sit-in, some Action Now representatives met with county officials in Stroger’s office to negotiate for more funding. Officials said they are addressing the issue: On Wednesday the Cook County Board approved a plan to spend $28 million in stimulus funds to demolish vacant properties and rehabilitate apartments.

“The president [Stroger] has a plan… it’s not that we’re doing nothing,” said William Moore, deputy director of planning and development. “We understand the need to bring all the parties together. If we do that, we can prevent a lot of foreclosures.”

The funds approved yesterday can only be used in suburban Cook County, Moore said.

“People have the perception that the president has control over everything,” Moore said. “Chicago has programs to address the foreclosure crisis. They need to take their concerns to the city as well.”

“What do vacant houses need saving for?” said Action Now member Latonya Somerville, 36, of Lawndale.  “They can get saved another time.