PHOENIX (STN) â When people lose their housing, they also lose a permanent addressâa vital connection to maintaining stability with the outside world.
Without a place to send or, more importantly, receive mail, individuals experiencing homelessness can be cut off from critical communications and benefits that could help them get back on their feet and secure a new place to live.
âIn that sense, it’s everything,â said Joe Medina, client engagement specialist for Keys to Change. âIt keeps you connected, it keeps you going.â
One of the cornerstones of the Key Campus in downtown Phoenix is its post office, which provides clients with a physical address to maintain contact with government agencies, potential employers, or family members.
Go inside the Key Campus post office:
âSome people have burned their connections or bridges and have nowhere else to collect mail,â Medina said.
After the U.S. Postal Service delivers mail daily, Medina and his team sort it to have it ready for pick-up at the on-campus mail window by 1 p.m. They hold the mail for up to 30 days to ensure clients receive important documents like Social Security cards, state IDs, birth certificates, and job-related correspondence.
âIn that sense, it’s everything. It keeps you connected, it keeps you going.â
- Joe Medina / Client Engagement Specialist, Keys to Change
Medina began working in the post office a few years ago and helped keep it operational during the COVID-19 pandemic.
âThe mailroom still needed to function as a bare skeleton, and I was that skeleton,â he said.
For Medina, ensuring that Key Campus clients stay in contact is just part of the service provided. The personal relationships he builds with them are just as important.
âIt’s just seeing them daily, [and] asking them questions,â he said. âI remember to acknowledge them as a person, not just somebody at the window.â
