The Virgin Islands Housing Authority (VIHA)
The Virgin Islands Housing Authority (VIHA), a public body corporate and political; is located within the United States Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States. VIHA is responsible for planning, financing, constructing, maintaining, and managing all public housing developments located on the three islands of St.
Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, which include ten (10) Asset Management Projects (AMPs) with 3,018 public
housing units in 24 communities. VIHA’s mission is to create vibrant, dynamic, sustainable communities so families
can evolve economically, improve lives, strengthen communities through quality, safe and affordable housing, and
provide various services to empower public housing residents. VIHA also administers the Territory’s Housing
Choice Voucher Program, which currently provides rental assistance in the form of vouchers to 1,733 eligible low income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. The vouchers help low-income families rent affordable
housing of their choice from private landlords in the Territory and are funded by the US Department of Housing
and Urban Development.
VIHA has a professional management and maintenance team and administers over a $41 million annual budget,
including the capital outlays for comprehensive improvements. Funding sources include the US Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), rental income, and limited other income. As one of the largest affordable
housing providers in the Virgin Islands, VIHA has extensive experience in managing and developing residential
rental properties.
The Virgin Islands Housing Authority (VIHA) seeks proposals from interested and qualified individual firms to
provide marketing and communication consulting services aimed and ensuring consistent and effective
communications with residents and participants of both the agency’s public housing and Housing Choice Voucher
programs.
Work of the selected firm will be key in ensuring that mechanisms are
Contact Person
Marilyn Miller
Procurement Manager
Virgin Islands Housing Authority
Procurement Department
9900 Oswald Harris Court
St. Thomas, VI 00802
Email: mmiller@vihousing.org
Proposal Submittal Deadline
Thursday, June 16, 2022, by 2:00 P.M. LOCAL TIME
NOTE: The “pdf file format” proposal must be received via email no
later than Thursday, June 16, 2022, by 2:00 P.M. LOCAL TIME, or
the proposal will be rejected.
PART 2 – SCOPE OF WORK
2.1 Scope of Work and Specific Requirements
Summary of Services
The Virgin Islands Housing Authority (VIHA), hereinafter referred to as VIHA has issued this Request for Proposals
(RFP) to define the minimum service requirements; solicit proposals; detail proposal requirements; firm
requirements; and, outline the process for evaluating proposals and selecting the subsequent firm to provide
marketing and communication consulting services aimed and ensuring consistent and effective communications
with residents and participants of both the agency’s public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs. Work
of the selected firm will be key in ensuring that mechanisms are developed and implemented that ensure that
housing assisted households are aware of the latest updates regarding VIHA’s redevelopment plan, available
services, and resources, and highlights the accomplishments and success achieved by housing assisted individuals,
VIHA, and its community partners.
Background
VIHA has a plan to transform its public housing units into financially and environmentally sustainable communities
of choice for families and seniors on St. Thomas and St. Croix. Simultaneously, VIHA is introducing its new resident
services action plan, Bright Path, which is transformative in both program design and in the source of funding. All
three of our developer partners have agreed to use Low-Income Housing Tax Credits equity to fund the servicerich
housing model for 15 years. To ensure a comprehensive approach to community-building, VIHA leadership
also strives to ensure that its residents are equipped with the tools and resources necessary for economic growth
and sustained success in their new communities. As a result, VIHA is implementing an accompanying human
transformation approach to resident services that it believes results in generational success and improvements in
the overall quality of life for all residents.
To accomplish the goal of generational success for its residents, VIHA believes that it must ensure the internal
infrastructure exists that enables VIHA to avail residents with every opportunity for success. As a result, VIHA has
revamped its resident services division. The mission of the department and its new Bright Path Human Service
Delivery Model is to ensure individuals and families will have access to comprehensive services and resources that
are instrumental in promoting health and wellness, housing stability, economic mobility, and personal self sufficiency for every household. Instrumental in achieving this mission is access to needed funding which can be
leveraged to increase the odds for the individuals and families served by VIHA and its development partners. VIHA’s new holistic human transformation efforts will be intentional, innovative, collaborative, data-driven, and
strength-based. In collaboration with functioning resident councils, VIHA’s development partners, and various
community-based nonprofits and government partners, the new department will develop strategies and seek to
coordinate programs and services that will be customized for each VIHA community and thereby ensuring to meet
the needs of the community down to the individual level. The intent is to not work in silos while engaging all
partners and stakeholders in the effort of transforming the lives of the residents which we all have been entrusted
to serve.
Scope of Work
VIHA and its Resident Wellness & Empowerment department are soliciting qualifications from individuals or firms
with experience creating and implementing marketing and communications plans to include branding and
rebranding of departments, missions, and strategies. The scope of work will include the following tasks:
• Development of a Communications Plan for VIHA’s Resident Wellness & Empowerment department,
which should include strategies for rebranding the department and its Bright Path Human Transformation
strategy in coordination with the appropriate VIHA staff on both planning and implementation.
• Creation of the necessary infrastructure, such as electronic communications, newsletters, websites, or
other communications tools, to enable plan implementation to begin and support the implementation of
the approved communications plan. This may include, but not be limited to:
1. Coordinating media strategies with VIHA and its Resident Wellness & Empowerment department,
and identified partners,
2. Producing creative materials and building the necessary dissemination infrastructure (such as
newsletters, posters, flyers, websites, and social media posts), organizing media and familiarization
tours, and
3. Writing articles, success stories, and other communications.
Statement of Qualifications
Respondents should describe their recent experience (preferably from the past five years) in the following
categories:
• Creation of communications plans of similar scope and purpose to the plan being requested in this RFP.
• Implementation of diverse communication strategies to advance an overarching strategy
• Development of effective partnerships and working relationships with client staff in the implementation
of communications activities
• Experience working with public sector clients, particularly local governments and/or housing authorities
• Briefly discuss and provide examples that illustrate the firm’s resources, commitment, and demonstrated
ability to complete all components of the Scope of Work in a timely manner, including but not limited to,
attending meetings, and advising VIHA’s team on matters specific to the Scope of Work.
To the extent possible, Respondents should provide data and other success measures that describe how effective
the activities completed by the Respondent were in achieving the stated communications goals.
Proposal Submission – All completed proposals must be submitted to the VIHA electronically by the Proposal Due
Date and Time. Respondents shall transmit completed proposals to the VIHA by email to mmiller@vihousing.org
in PDF format. The “Subject” line of the email should state “(name of firm) Resident Marketing &
Communications.”