AGAWAM, Mass. -- Counseling organization Cambridge Credit is putting forth a new initiative to stabilize the credit markets with mortgage relief.

The initiative comes on the heels of the announcement by the National Bureau of Economic Research that the country's economy is officially in a recession.

"Many of the people we've talked to lately have lost confidence in the credit system. They see the nation's reliance on credit as one of the catalysts in our economic meltdown," said Christopher Viale, president of Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp.

"Simply increasing the availability of credit to certain consumers is the equivalent of giving a drowning man a glass of water," Viale added. "Any solution to resolve our current problems would have a much better chance of succeeding, and would help restore consumer confidence, if it included a mechanism to modify home loans. That's where this crisis began, and remedies that address this root cause will help end it."

In fact, Viale has assembled such a plan, the Home Sweet Home Initiative, which is intended to stabilize the economy by providing immediate mortgage relief to struggling homeowners. The goal is to help families become productive and responsible consumers, able to save, spend and use credit appropriately. The plan is dependant on a coordinated effort by legislators and the private sector.

"Many consumers wound up in bad home loans due to questionable lending practices and haven't been able to create a workout plan because their mortgages can't easily be rewritten. Home Sweet Home addresses this fact by mandating the availability of workout options for most consumers, thereby increasing the amount of monthly discretionary income at their disposal," Viale said.