Heidi Dezayas, Patch Staff

Heidi is excited to be the local editor for Plum-Oakmont Patch and Forest Hills-Regent Square Patch. A Hialeah, FL native, Heidi has been living in Verona for the past 10 years. Though Heidi didn't grow up in the area, she is no stranger to Pittsburgh's East Suburbs—she would visit her grandparents (who live in Verona) every summer since she was a kid.

Heidi graduated from Riverview High School in Oakmont in 2004, and graduated from Point Park University in 2007 with a degree in broadcast journalism. Internships at local television stations helped her discover her passion truly is in community news because of its personal nature.

Immediately following graduation, Heidi ditched TV and got a job working with Gateway Newspapers/Trib Total Media. She reported for the Penn-Trafford Star and the Times Express newspapers for three-and-a-half years, and has won four Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Keystone Awards and a Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight Award.

Heidi and other writers for Plum-Oakmont Patch were nominated for a Golden Quill in the online community engagement news category for their coverage of the Washington Boulevard floods that killed four local residents.

If you see her around town, say hi!