Mary Helen Petrus |

Outreach Manager and Senior Policy Advisor

Mary Helen Petrus, Outreach Manager and Senior Policy Advisor

Mary Helen Petrus is Outreach Manager and Senior Policy Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. She oversees the Community Development group’s outreach activities and conducts research and policy analysis on current and emerging community development issues. She joined the Cleveland Fed in May 2008.

Previously, Ms. Petrus was director of policy development for the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition. She was a co-founding director of ReBuild Ohio, a statewide consortium that studies and develops policy recommendations on vacancy and abandonment, and served as an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.

Ms. Petrus received a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy Studies.

  • Fed Publications
Title Date Publication Author(s) Type

 

 December, 2009 Vol. 1, No. 1 Mary Helen Petrus; Forefront
Abstract: Rampant foreclosures present a dichotomy for communities. On the one hand, foreclosure can deal a crushing blow to the American Dream of homeownership, and it certainly can accelerate the decline of neighborhoods. But often overlooked is the other hand: Foreclosure can sometimes serve as a useful tool to stave off community blight.
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