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　　Home foreclosures have declined in many partsof the United States, but tens of thousands ofAmericans are still losing their homes everymonth. It’s all part of the changes brought onby the Great Recession - changes that have hurtaverage incomes and in some cases made somejobs obsolete. But a small Midwest bank is challenging other financial institutions to bepart of the solution by teaching their customers the skills to stay employed and reclaimtheir share of the "American Dream".

　　Since 2007, more than five million American families have lost their homes to foreclosure.

　　Marketing manager Katrina Holmes almost became one of them. Just weeks after buying a newhome for her family, she lost her job. With her options running out, Holmes contacted hermortgage lender. She expected the bank to tell her she had to give up her dream of homeownership.

　　“Fifth Third Bank could have said to me: 'you got to go.' And they didn’t. And that would havebeen worse but I have not had to deal with worse," said Holmes.

　　Holmes is just one of the success stories from Fifth Third Bank’s decision this year to use partof its advertising budget to hire a career-coaching firm to help unemployed borrowers. Holmeslanded a job in the health industry - and the bank earned a loyal customer. Bank spokespersonLarry Magnesen calls that a good business decision.”

　　“A foreclosure is a disaster for all concerned. It’s a tragedy for the family. It’s not a goodthing for the community and in many cases, the bank will lose a substantial amount of moneyon that process. So no bank wants to take back a home. So this is a really great solution forall concerned," said Magnesen.

　　Randall Jackson faced losing his Chicago home after being unemployed for nine months. Thelast thing he expected from his bank - was career coaching.

　　“I was just absolutely shocked that Fifth Third was offering such a program to me and so Isigned up and it turned out to be one of the best things I’d ever done," said Jackson.

　　Besides helping build effective resumes, the 16-week program relies heavily on one-on-onecareer guidance. That's important says NextJob CEO John Courtney, who saysunemployment can take a heavy toll on job seekers.

　　"The first part is to help build their confidence and with their accomplishments-based resumethat doesn't just list their work history but goes through all of their accomplishments - theybegin to stand up a little straighter, begin to approach the job market with more hope andmore confidence to go into an interview and land that job," said Courtney.

　　While foreclosures have fallen to their lowest level since the financial crisis, each month - some100 thousand American families face the prospect of losing their homes. Banks and financialinstitutions which helped create the conditions that led to the crisis ought to be part of thesolution, says Fifth Third Bank's Larry Magnesen.

　　"There's certainly a lot of people who had a hand in creating the crisis and I think we all have totake a hand in fixing the crisis and addressing these issues," he said.

　　Fifth Third Bank's re-employment program boasts a 40 percent success rate for long-termunemployed clients, compared to the national average of 11 percent.