VHA is pleased to welcome another member of our 2025–2026 VISTA cohort, Josh Stein, who is serving as the Housing Families First Organizational Training Strategist VISTA with Housing Families First in Richmond.
About Josh:
Josh graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in Economics and Political Philosophy, Policy, & Law (PPL), along with a minor in Urban & Environmental Planning. Through his coursework and extracurricular activities, Josh maintained a strong focus on the intersection of economics, the natural environment, and a variety of social issues facing cities. As a result, he has developed a deep passion for affordable housing and building strong, resilient communities.
A native of Greater Richmond, Josh was eager to combine his academic background with his commitment to service to give back to his city and was particularly drawn to HFF because of their creative, people-oriented efforts to provide care and stability for all Richmond families. In his time with HFF, Josh looks forward to highlighting effective strategies, strengthening staff trainings, and increasing community engagement, all in support of the great work being done by non-profits in Virginia.
Looking ahead, Josh plans to use the skills acquired during his VISTA year to continue to serve marginalized communities. He hopes to do so through a mix of advocacy, non-profit work, and possibly a legal career. In his free time, Josh enjoys reading, playing drums in local bands, and spending time outdoors.
Project:
Over the course of his term at HFF, Josh has developed training materials as a way to build capacity and long-term sustainability. Most recently, this effort has focused on creating videos, which Josh records and edits using online software. So far, Josh has completed his first round of editing for over 30 videos, with topics ranging from emergency procedures to an overview of HFF programs to the structure of the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care. Once completed, Josh hopes to synthesize these videos and various resources into a website, creating a user-accessible experience that will both guide onboarding employees through their training journey, as well as providing a consistent resource for existing employees seeking guidance on particular topics. Alongside this project, Josh is also working collaboratively with his team to develop comprehensive training manuals for the various programs of HFF, in addition to 1-5 page training “bites” that aim to answer frequently asked questions among case managers. Together, these efforts will ensure best practices are applied over the years, especially as HFF grows and develops.
In conjunction with these internally-focused projects, Josh has also been working to leverage his role in support of the human services sector in the Richmond region as a whole. In November, Josh organized and facilitated a training led by the Virginia Poverty Law Center on their eviction prevention tool, the Eviction Defense Center. This training sought to educate case workers across Richmond on how they can best support their clients to maintain housing, especially given Virginia’s high eviction rate. In February, Josh organized another community-wide training on what it means to be low-barrier within homeless services. Rather than including a single perspective, the training opted for a panel format, incorporating diverse voices such as emergency shelter, housing programs, and day-to-day case management. Josh hopes to plan several more similar events, bringing people together in the name of crucial topics and building sustainability for the local community.
Outside of these main efforts, Josh has also organized several compliance trainings, researched training offered both locally and nationwide, and shared these resources with HFF staff. For those interested in contacting Josh about his work and potential collaborative opportunities, please email him at josh@housingfamiliesfirst.org.