Here’s why USPS won’t deliver to a Kalamazoo apartment

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — People living at Interfaith Homes apartment complex in Kalamazoo are without mail service after an alleged assault on a postal worker in the community on Sept. 10.

Residents were first made aware of the stoppage on Sept. 17 in a letter sent by their property manager, saying it was due to an assault on a postal worker and that they were working on a solution with the United States Postal Service.

In the meantime, residents were instructed to pick up their mail at the post office on N Drake Road, four miles away.

People living at Interfaith Homes told News 8 this was a hardship without access to reliable transportation. Some said they were having trouble keeping up with bills because of the arrangement.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety was not able to provide a police report for the alleged assault, but the United States Postal Inspection Service, which is the federal agency in charge of investigating assaults and threats to postal workers, issued a statement saying it was aware of an incident on Sept. 10, but couldn’t provide further details due to the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, residents said the incident they assumed was the subject of the letter was a juvenile shooting a BB gun, or pellet gun, at a postal worker about a week before.

Kevin Trayer, the area vice president for the Michigan branch of the National Association of Postal Supervisors, confirmed those details and added that the delivery freeze will continue until a safer option for drop-off and pickup is built for postal workers.

A representative for the LIFT Foundation, the nonprofit that owns Interfaith Homes, released a statement that said, in part:

“Our board and leadership are working on the situation by exploring how to assist residents until which time we can get centralized mailboxes installed (which will allow the post office to resume delivery).”

Lisa Willcut, Vice President of Lockhart Management and Consulting

Assault and robbery of U.S. Postal Workers have increased nationwide over the last five years. According to a report from the United States Government Accountability Office, there were more than 400 assaults on postal workers in 2023 alone.

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