to coordinate efforts on a regional scale to avoid preventable foreclosures. this work continues, and the group is now expanding its efforts to also help families that have already gone through a foreclosure. this year, the task force is beginning a series of foreclosure recovery workshops across the valley. families will learn about local programs and assistance, including job training and employment assistance. credit counselors will help them begin repairing their damaged credit. and, in cases in which they may be victims of fraud, they will receive guidance and referrals to legal aid attorneys. as a final example, in cleveland, local leaders in the slavic village neighborhood have been dealing with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation since the 1990s. cleveland saw population loss for five successive decades, resulting in an oversupply of housing. with the onset of the financial crisis, the problem began to worsen dramatically. by 2007, slavic village was the zip code with the highest number of foreclosures in the nation. by 2010, more than 1, 500 properties in a neighborhood of 11, 000 homes needed to be demolished. this community has a history of strong neighborhood organizations, and as might be expected, its residents, community leaders, nonprofits, local governments, and companies stepped up their efforts. in one partnership, community groups are using data provided by a local university to identify borrowers at risk of foreclosure and are reaching out to them, door to door, to see what might be done to prevent a foreclosure. in another example, residents and community leaders in slavic village alerted county prosecutors to fraudulent lending in the neighborhood. as the crisis continues to play out, community leaders have found ways to reuse vacant land, adding gardens, yard expansions, and bike trails among the neighborhood ’ s declining number of homes, making it safer and more attractive. business leaders are helping as well by purchasing and demolishing properties adjacent to the gardens and trails and supporting the renovation and expansion of a nearby school and recreation center. for the metropolitan statistical area, the poverty rate increased from 12. 5 percent to 15. 6 percent between 2007 and 2009 ( for one - year estimates, see u. s. census bureau ( 2007 ), american community survey ( washington : census bureau ) ; and u. s. census bureau ( 2009 ), american community survey ( washington : census bureau ) ) the unemployment rate in the area rose from roughly 4.

the stance of monetary policy poses a significant threat to financial stability that cannot be contained by the substantial range of mitigating policy actions available to the fpc. 11 if, in the future, the united states did face a similar dilemma, where financial imbalances are growing rapidly against a backdrop of subpar economic conditions, the federal reserve may consider monetary policy for financial stability purposes more readily than some foreign peers because our regulatory perimeter is narrower, the capital markets are more important, and the macroprudential toolkit is not as extensive. even in these circumstances, however, it is important to be prudent about the role of monetary policy, recognizing that the necessary adjustments in monetary policy could have broader consequences. for example, a tightening in monetary policy sufficient to limit strong credit growth could depress employment and potentially trigger a sharp correction in financial markets. these limitations should lead us to be circumspect regarding the use of monetary policy as a tool to address financial stability risks, perhaps viewing it as a second line of defense. but it is equally important to acknowledge the potential utility of monetary policy for addressing risks to financial stability and to the broader economy and to continue expanding our work on the appropriate role of financial stability in our monetary policy framework. conclusion in sum, while the federal reserve has an inherent responsibility for financial stability, it has an incomplete set of authorities and a limited regulatory perimeter in a financial system that has large capital markets and a fragmented regulatory structure. it is therefore important that we actively utilize the tools under our authority – which place particular emphasis on building structural resilience at the largest, most complicated institutions through tougher through - the - see janet l. yellen ( 2014 ), “ monetary policy and financial stability ”, speech delivered at “ 2014 michel camdessus central banking lecture ”, a lecture series sponsored by the international monetary fund, washington, july 2. see bank of england ( 2013 ), “ forward guidance ”, webpage, august 7, paragraph 5. bis central bankers ’ speeches cycle standards, along with broad countercyclical measures to limit the buildup, and potential consequences, of risks to financial stability, while exploring the design of time - varying sectorspecific tools, and, at times, looking to monetary policy as a powerful tool that unlike any other operates across the entire financial system. bis central bankers ’ speeches