Dozens of local officials from 12 of the regions hit hardest by the housing crisis are meeting at Harvard University March 14 to 16 to develop new strategies for stabilizing neighborhoods that experience large numbers of foreclosures.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Boot Camp will convene teams of government officials, nonprofits and real estate firms from Baltimore; Chicago; Cuyahoga County, Ohio; Denver; Los Angeles; Michigan; Massachusetts; New Orleans; Philadelphia; Phoenix; South Florida; and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. The largest national mortgage lenders and servicers such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are also expected to attend.

Senior officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Treasury, Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will also participate.

"The Neighborhood Stabilization Boot Camp" is sponsored by Living Cities together with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Living Cities is a philanthropic collaborative of 22 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions.

"Everyone, from government agencies and nonprofits to financial institutions and foundations, are frustrated by our collective inability to get stabilization efforts to scale. This Boot Camp is a direct response to that frustration," said Ben Hecht, president and CEO of Living Cities.