RICHMOND, Va. — Seniors at an apartment complex in Richmond's Manchester neighborhood say they went without mail from the U.S. Postal Service for weeks, which they say put the health and safety of vulnerable residents at risk.
Cynthia Rasheed, the president of Stonewall Place's Tenant Council, said in her 11 years living at the complex, she had never dealt with mail delays until the start of this year.
“The mail people were coming; the carriers were coming and couldn’t get into the door. We thought they would go back, most of us asked them to go back and report it," Rasheed said. "We thought they were going back the first week, so we let it go. The second week, we started going to the post office and they said they were going to have it fixed within a couple days, but that was the second week. Third week came around and it still wasn't fixed."
Rasheed and other residents were told by multiple mail carriers that they were unable to access the apartment's mailboxes due to an issue with a postal key.
Residents told CBS 6 that while they made multiple reports to USPS, they waited for important mail like bills, tax forms, and medication.
Bernice Hughes said she relies on the USPS to deliver mail after she had heart surgery last year.
“I get heart medicine, high blood pressure medication; I have to have it every day. Knowing that the mail wasn’t running for almost three weeks was scary," Hughes said.
The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which manages the building, couldn't access the mail since the mailboxes are considered federal property.
For most residents in the community, driving to a post office to pick up a package is out of the question.
“About 90% of the people in here don’t drive because they can’t drive, they can’t see, or they don’t have a car, so that was not a solution for them," Rasheed said.
Hughes said she tried to pick up mail at two different post offices she thought served Stonewall Place but came back empty-handed.
“You go to High Oaks, they tell you you have to go to Brook Road. Well half of the people in here don’t drive the majority," Hughes said. "So we gotta try to get to Brook Road, you gotta pay somebody to get to Brook Road. ‘Well, we don’t know what to tell you to do. You can’t get your mail from here.’ Well, somebody else told me they got their mail from here. ‘Well we’re sorry, we don’t know what to tell you to do.’ So you leave with no mail from two different places. That is so unfair, especially with people who do not drive," Hughes said.
Both USPS and RRHA are looking into the issue and said they would follow up with CBS 6 with more information.
Residents said they finally saw a mail carrier access the boxes Saturday but want those responsible for the delay to know how dire it was.
“Thank God it came just before I ran out. Had I had run out I would’ve panicked. That’s a scary situation. Because that’s life or death," Hughes said. "Do to us what you would want someone to do to you or your mother or your father. You've got parents. You wouldn't want them to experience this. So don't give it to somebody else's parents. We're human too."
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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