VHA is proud to spotlight Maia Feldman, another member of our 2025–2026 AmeriCorps VISTA cohort, who serves as the Community Outreach Specialist VISTA with Rebuilding Together Richmond.
About Maia:
Maia Feldman, originally from Northern Virginia, is a recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in political science and a minor in health services. Her main areas of interest are health care accessibility and affordable housing, understanding the connection between someone’s lifestyle and their at home needs. As the Community Outreach Specialist at Rebuilding Together Richmond, she enjoys being able to connect with her local community and give back in a meaningful way, while also gaining a better understanding of the type of work she wants to do in the future. During this AmeriCorps term, she is excited to learn new skills to assist with organizing large community events and streamlining community materials.
In her spare time she likes exploring local coffee shops with friends and working with creative outlets like painting and ceramics.
Current Project:
As the Community Outreach Specialist, Maia supports Rebuilding Together Richmond by strengthening data usage and organizational processes to better prioritize and support community outreach. Her responsibilities include updating internal systems, developing new data management tools, and organizing information to improve efficiency and decision-making.
One of Maia’s key projects was inspired by her participation in the organization’s “Fall Fix Up” initiative, where local businesses and corporate teams sponsor home and community space repairs. Through interactions with homeowners and volunteers, Maia identified a need for clearer, more accessible pathways to connect community members with local nonprofits and services beyond Rebuilding Together Richmond’s direct scope. In response, she began developing an ongoing statewide data management tool that categorizes nonprofits by location and service area. When community members share needs beyond Rebuilding Together Richmond’s scope of services, this tool functions as an internal outreach resource, prompting direct collaboration with partner organizations and revealing service gaps across communities. While initially designed for internal use, Maia is now adapting and showcasing it in flyers and infographics to help community members better understand available resources and identify clear starting points for support.
In addition to developing data management tools, Maia has prioritized strengthening community outreach and collaboration. To further support homeowners served by Rebuilding Together Richmond, Maia connected community groups through a shared service initiative focused on home safety. As a result, Safe and Healthy Home Kits were developed to help homeowners feel more protected in their homes, regardless of whether repairs were scheduled. These kits include items such as fire blankets, rug tape, and first aid supplies, and were intentionally designed to extend Rebuilding Together Richmond’s reach by involving volunteers in their assembly. At the first community event, volunteers assembled 60 kits, all of which will be distributed to local homeowners. Each kit also includes informational materials highlighting community services and opportunities for engagement, reinforcing connections between residents, nonprofits, and volunteers. Through this work, Maia has helped foster greater community engagement, collaboration, and awareness while expanding the organization’s impact beyond direct repair services.