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Karl Steiner walked up to the window of a small gray building near downtown Phoenix and told the employee his name. He took the box and his cell phone bill and left.
The box was just what Steiner was looking for, and it contained a pair of black and red Reebok sneakers for his new warehouse job.
Mr. Steiner has no permanent address. His letters and packages will be delivered to a mailroom for the homeless in a building on the Keys to Change campus, a collaboration of 15 nonprofit organizations serving people like him.
He and thousands of others have received their mail here for years. They use that address to apply for jobs, buy medicine, receive benefits like food stamp cards, and even vote. And for 20 years, the U.S. Postal Service provided at least 20 percent of the mailroom’s budget.
But last month, the Postal Service ended the $24,000 annual aid because the nearby post office “is unable to adequately serve the community,” a spokesperson said in a statement to ProPublica.
Unlike a standard post office, Keys to Change allows you to pick up your mail without a government ID, which is a common problem for homeless people.
This year, Keys to Change will spend approximately $117,000 to help 7,000 people receive their mail. Although the cost is minimal compared to the nonprofit’s budget, it is a “critically important part” of helping people escape homelessness, said Amy Schwabenlander, the organization’s CEO.
“This is something really valuable that we can offer our customers,” Swabenländer said.
The loss of support from the Postal Service comes at a time of uncertainty for one of Arizona’s largest nonprofit homeless service providers and similar organizations across the country. Keys to Change says it will seek donations to keep the mailroom open.
But President Donald Trump and his administration are taking a very different approach to homelessness than his predecessor, which will likely result in less funding for these services.
President Trump is calling for significant cuts and restructuring of aid subsidies. More than half of Keys to Change’s funding comes from government agreements, Schwabenländer said.
The president also issued an executive order requiring cities to remove people living outdoors by enforcing camping bans and institutionalizing people experiencing mental health and substance use disorders. The order also calls for ending support for programs that prioritize housing and services.
Even small programs like mailrooms could be strained as funding shifts to support more punitive approaches to homelessness. The loss of Postal Service support is unrelated to these budget cuts, but it leaves another hole for providers to fill. Some groups, like Keys to Change, said more needs to be done as demand for aid increases and federal aid dwindles.
A record number of people are seeking help. According to the group, the number of Keys to Change people last year increased to 20,000 from 18,000 the year before, but it is also seeing a loss in relief funds during the coronavirus era.
“There’s clearly an atmosphere of anxiety and fear, both among health care providers and among people experiencing homelessness,” said Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit organization that helps homeless people. Whitehead predicts that some of the Trump administration’s changes will result in more people walking the streets, not fewer.
Karl Steiner opens a shoe box for his new job in a warehouse. Credit: Ash Ponders for ProPublica First image: Moreno and Joe Medina in the mail room. Medina has worked there since 2019 and was previously a client of Keys to Change. Second image: Medina sorts envelopes to find mail for the unhoused communities the facility serves. Credit: Ash Ponders for ProPublica
Joe Medina has worked in the mailroom since 2019 and knows some of the people he works with by name.
A former Keys to Change customer, he started out as a volunteer doing odd jobs around campus before moving to a full-time job in the mailroom.
On a recent Friday, he carefully sorted the letters into alphabetical boxes.
Paul Babcock approached the mailroom window and handed Medina his identification.
However, Medina soon noticed Babcock and handed him the package.
“Thank you, I’ll see you soon,” Babcock said. Babcock has been homeless intermittently since 2012, and has been using the mailroom for much of that time. Babcock opened the delivery and found a sweatshirt. For the cold season, he said.
Babcock said having an address helped her get off the streets. He received mail from the Social Security Administration, replacement identification cards about five times, and chocolate chip cookies from his mother. “I got everything from this,” Babcock said.
If people don’t get their mail, Medina sometimes tells others to let them know so they can come pick it up.
“When people pick up their mail, they’re doing something for themselves, no matter how small,” Medina said. Some people come multiple times a day looking for letters and packages. But sometimes they leave disappointed.
Medina greeted the woman by name and stepped back to check the trash can. “I don’t have anything now,” he told her.
In 2009, the Postal Service threatened to cut funding to the mailroom, the Arizona Republic reported. The contract was being reviewed as the location was not generating revenue. “We’ve been giving them donations, but we can’t do that anymore,” a postal official told the newspaper at the time.
The Postal Service said it would cut funding but not eliminate it and create “public service” contracts for homeless service providers. It is unclear whether that plan went ahead. Schwabenlender said the latest “Keys to Change” mailroom agreement appears unchanged from the 2009 agreement.
A Postal Service spokeswoman declined to comment on the terms of the mailroom contract, calling it “confidential.”
When Postal Service officials contacted Keys to Change in May to terminate the contract, they said the contract “requires financial transactions that include revenue generation,” according to emails provided to ProPublica.
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In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, more people become homeless than begin their lives. For every 19 people newly homeless, 10 find housing, according to a local nonprofit that coordinates homeless services.
After Tammy McCauley left an abusive relationship, her car broke down and she lost her job as a housekeeper. She has been homeless for a year and until recently lived in a shelter.
She put her dog Moosie in a stroller and walked to get her mail.
“It allows us to remain human,” McCauley said of the service.
Later that day, a FedEx truck arrived at the mailroom. The driver dropped off two boxes from Walmart.
Medina knew who they were for and kept them aside until they came to retrieve them.
Medina greets a man outside the Keys to Change mailroom. Credit: Ash Ponders for ProPublica
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