- USPS ended a $24,000 annual subsidy that covered about 20% of Keys to Change’s Phoenix mail room budget after two decades.
- The $117,000 program serves roughly 7,000 people a year and provides a mailing address for those without government ID to receive benefits, job and medical mail, and vote.
- The cut adds pressure on nonprofits to fundraise or reduce services and signals that even low-cost, longstanding homelessness supports may be at risk.
- It coincides with broader federal homelessness-policy shifts, including HUD’s 2025 Continuum of Care rules that cap permanent-housing funding and could destabilize housing assistance.
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The USPS’s decision to end funding for the Keys to Change mail room reflects a broader retrenchment in support for services critical to people experiencing homelessness. The mail room, which for two decades received roughly 20% of its $117,000 budget—about $24,000 annually—from the USPS, serves around 7,000 people per year. It fills a vital role by allowing recipients without government ID to receive mail—an important access point for employment, benefits, medication, and voting.
This cut comes at the same time that federal homelessness policy has sharply diverged from recent precedent. In the 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program, the Trump administration has introduced rules capping the share of funds that can go to permanent housing at 30%, down from approximately 87%, with many advocates warning this will force reallocation toward transitional housing and emergency shelters.
The strategic implications are significant. For Keys to Change, losing the USPS subsidy means either fundraising to cover the shortfall or scaling down services. The cut of $24,000 is small in absolute dollars but symbolically powerful—raising uncertainty among providers that even longstanding, relatively low-cost services are at risk. For the broader system, the policy shift threatens to destabilize prominent strategies like permanent supportive housing, which have been most effective in reducing chronic homelessness.
Open questions remain around the administrative reasoning and legal rationale: USPS claims its decision rests on a nearby post office being “able to fully serve the community,” but the necessity and sufficiency of that claim are unsettled. Are other nonprofits facing similar cuts? Moreover, the implementation and legality of the CoC NOFO changes are now being challenged in court; some of HUD’s policies have been paused, suggesting potential reversals or adjustments.
Supporting Notes
- Keys to Change receives about $117,000 annually to serve 7,000 people via its Phoenix mail room.
- USPS contributed $24,000 per year—which was about 20% of the mail room’s budget—for 20 years and recently ended that support.
- Keys to Change allows receipt of mail without government ID, which many standard post offices require.
- The Trump administration’s FY 2025 CoC NOFO limits funding for permanent housing to 30%, whereas previously around 87% of CoC funds supported permanent housing.
- NLIHC estimates that up to 170,000 people relying on permanent housing assistance could lose stable housing under this new CoC policy.
- In West Virginia, cuts to CoC funding slashed capacity: a nonprofit that housed 200 people/month could only help 60/month after funding reductions.