The retiree from Douglasville made it clear early on why she was calling: "I'm bottomed out."

She was carrying a huge amount of credit card and mortgage debt and could not pay all her bills.

In addition to her home, she owned two properties in Florida that had lost value. Only one was rented.

Sounding concerned but calm on the phone, the woman told Dan Hultquist of the Atlanta-based Consumer Credit Counseling Service, "I'm just going to stop paying on one."

Hultquist is a housing counselor at CCCS, a nonprofit organization that helps people nationwide who are in dire financial straits.

CCCS let an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter listen to calls to get a better understanding of the complications facing homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure.

The surge in foreclosure-prevention counseling is one way to measure the gravity of the housing market downturn. The number of Georgians with housing concerns who contacted CCCS during the first four months of the year increased 57 percent, compared with the same period in 2007.

Nationally, CCCS' housing sessions soared 223 percent last year to 31,287. The organization is on track to go even higher this year; through May more than 25,000 sessions had been logged.

Two years ago, housing counseling used to be slightly more than 5 percent of CCCS' business; now it's almost 18 percent. Because of the increase in problem mortgages, CCCS has expanded its roster of housing counselors from 22 in 2006 to 87, with more on the way.

The Ford Foundation awarded CCCS a $2 million grant last week to build a new call center in metro Atlanta and hire 80 additional housing counselors.

Working with Bank of America and Wells Fargo, CCCS is employing a pilot software program to help homeowners who are in the early stages of late-payment trouble. Suzanne Boas, president of the organization, said the software "will help us save the homes of many Americans."

Struggling homeowners are in much worse shape this year than last, judging from the CCCS' client profile. In 2007, the average client's net worth was $23,569; today, that number is a negative: -$48,095.

The profiles are based on information provided by the clients. And now many more are reporting their homes are worth less than they owe on them, CCCS spokesman John McCosh explained. That's especially true of residents in California, Nevada and Florida, McCosh said.

Deborah Blount, a real estate agent in Kingsland in southeast Georgia, contacted CCCS after falling three months behind on her mortgage payments and having no luck negotiating with her lender.

Blount's income is commission-based, so it's inconsistent. When the mortgage adjusted upward, she didn't have money saved to pay the higher amount and was delinquent, she said in an interview.

A single mother, Blount said she had intended to sell the house before the payments increased, but "I met my fiancé and that got my mind off getting my house ready for sale."

When the mortgage holder started the foreclosure process, Blount contacted CCCS. The three parties talked on the phone and the lender "all of a sudden ... started to listen," she said. "They just took me more seriously."

The foreclosure was halted and a repayment plan was verbally agreed to, she said.

Hultquist has heard all sorts of stories while providing free counseling on the phone. But the 71-year-old Douglasville widow buried under credit card and mortgage debt gave him a jolt: Her home is in his ZIP code.

In one way she was typical: Her situation was more complex than simply a mortgage or housing problem. She had taken in her granddaughter, adding to her already lofty expenses.

To keep current on her mortgages, she was using credit cards to make other payments. But after piling up $67,000 in card debt, her credit was cut off. The woman's total debt exceeded $550,000.

"I don't know where to turn to meet my expenses," she told Hultquist during the 57-minute conversation.

The former mortgage broker tallied her monthly income and expenses — excluding credit card debt — and determined she was bleeding several hundred dollars a month.

Hultquist recommended she reduce what she spends on eating out, clothing and her cellphone.

To trim her grocery bill, he suggested she shop at Angel Food Ministries, an organization founded by two Monroe pastors that now operates in 35 states.

Hultquist also suggested the woman consider taking in a boarder to boost her income.

She wasn't thrilled with that idea. "The way things are today," she said, "you don't know who you're getting."

To resolve her mortgage problems, Hultquist recommended she to talk to the lenders about short-selling the Florida properties.

The banks would have to agree to absorb the losses. If they were opposed to that, another option would be to simply give them the properties to avoid foreclosure.

As for her credit-card debt, Hultquist told the woman she might want to consult with an attorney or a debt-management expert.

Toward the end of the call, the homeowner, a former city of Miami employee, suggested another possible change.

"I'm thinking of going back to work," she said. "But I need a little retraining."