(Harrisburg) -- Housing advocates throughout the state are calling for the commonwealth to restore funding to a program that helps people facing foreclosure. State funding was all but eliminated for the Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, or HEMAP, and it shut down in July. Now, advocates are asking for a resurrection, with $15 million  from the state. Democratic Senator Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia says the program could have been salvaged months ago if Governor Corbett had pushed to use the year-end surplus, which was more than $700 million. "There wasn’t an issue, there wasn’t a problem, we had enough money, and what did this governor do?" he asked. "He said 'To hell with y’all.' He said 'To hell with the average homeowner in Pennsylvania.' He said you don’t matter." Corbett has stood by his decision not to spend that money. He says the remaining surplus could go to pay for recovery efforts from recent flooding.