A Campbell River senior wants everyone to know that if you have mobility issues, you don’t have to struggle to the neighbourhood community mailbox, Canada Post will help you out.
Dolores Tataryn walks with the aid of a cane and is not concerned too much about her current condition but if it should worsen, she may need help getting her mail. So, she contacted Canada Post and informed them of her plight.
One of the complaints about Canada Post continuing with its plan to eliminate door-to-door delivery in Campbell River and convert to community mail boxes, is the hardship it imposes on people with mobility challenges.
But in a letter to Tataryn, Mary Traversy, senior vice-president business transformation for Canada Post, said, “We recognize that this transition may be challenging for some and, as you may know, we have created an information package and questionnaire for residents who request accommodation in order to help us better understand their needs and determine appropriate options for individuals on a case-by-case basis.”
Tataryn said that if her condition worsens and requires assistance, Canada Post would deliver her mail to her.
“There’s no need to hire any door-to-door services,” Tataryn said.
Tataryn was concerned about any seniors incurring any unnecessary costs.
Canada Post spokesperson Anick Losier confirmed that the corporation has a program in place to help people with any kind of difficulty accessing their community mailbox.
“We do have an accommodation program that is related to anybody that has mobility issues or any kind of issues accessing their community mailbox,” Losier said.
Losier said what would probably happen in Tataryn’s case is that the mail would be delivered every day to her mail box like usual but once a week, a postal worker would gather up the week’s mail in the box and deliver it to her house, most likely on a Wednesday.
Other methods of assistance to people in other situations might involve delivering the mail to the mailbox of someone of their choosing who would then bring the mail to the person with the mobility challenges. Another alternative would be to deliver the person’s mail to a pharmacy with a Canada Post outlet that the person attends, allowing them to pick up their mail at the same time as their prescriptions or other needs.
“It’s really about adapting to the situation at hand,” Losier said.
Traversy said in her letter that “we understand that people’s needs change over time and please be assured that residents will be able to request accommodation at any point during the transition to a CMB (community mailbox), or in the future, should their circumstances change.”
If you have any issues around accessing your community mailbox, you can call Canada Post at 1-844-454-3009.