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ALBANY, N.Y. -- Dozens of homeowners at risk for losing their homes took to the Capitol along with advocacy groups, trying to salvage a statewide program aimed at stopping foreclosures.

"We help them navigate a very complex system of foreclosure," said Justin Haines, foreclosure prevention director for Legal Services NYC.

Foreclosure Prevention Services is a statewide, non-profit alliance that's helped as many as 14,000 New Yorkers actually stop foreclosure on their home. They also provide legal services for thousands more going through foreclosure process. However, Governor Cuomo erased the $25 million program from his new budget.

"Services are going to be cut, and the need is still there, the clients are still knocking our doors down," said Stephanie Galvin-Riley of Albany County Rural Housing Alliance.

"It really is that we have job loss, that we have economic downturn that's hitting every single family," said Susan Cotner, representing the Affordable Housing Partnership.

It's estimated that as many as 345,000 New Yorkers received pre-foreclosure notices in the past year, and that number could spike as homeowners continue to cope with the burst housing bubble.

According to Haines, "Recent estimates show it could take as many as 14 years to get through the current foreclosure docket."

"The ancillary damages that a foreclosed home does to a family, to a neighborhood, to a community take years to improve," said State Senator Malcolm Smith, (D) Brooklyn.

The state loses up to $245,000 in tax revenue on each foreclosed home, a number that'll likely rise if the prevention program gets foreclosed itself.

Funding for key parts of the program expire on March 31st.

Homes at risk of foreclosure (by region):

1. Capital Region: 16,429

2. Central NY and Mohawk Valley: 18,128

3. Finger Lakes: 14,656

4. Hudson Valley: 38,206

5. NYC and Long Island: 136,353

6. Western NY: 15,087