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COVID HERO

Catrice Richardson-Oliver-USPS Lead Sales, Service & Clerk Craft Supervisor

Shipping and/or Ecommerce has always been an essential and integral part of our everyday lives. However, in today's times this has never been more true as our country relies on postal service workers in ways they never have before. Postal workers are on the front lines of the pandemic response. We are working tirelessly around the clock to ensure that customers needs are met and to ensure that essential goods like medicine, medical and personal protection equipment, food, supplies, and other types of mail are moved through the mail system safely and effectively. Whilst customer service and satisfaction has been our primary goal during this pandemic, the focus has shifted to customer and employee health and safety. After COVID-19 appeared, like most Americans, we panicked and were afraid because of all of the unknowns, misinformation, and possible "what ifs". After listening to and heeding the information that has been shared with our country from top medical experts and professionals, I implemented and utilized better safety procedures and techniques to help assuage the fears of most customers and my staff. The paramount concern is now that of public and employee health and safety. Much of postal worker’s attention is now centered on ensuring that we are keeping ourselves and our customers safe during our interactions with them. These practices can cause some delays, so our communication has changed to let our customers know that while we are still committed to their satisfaction and timely service and delivery, we now have to care for them on a more personal level. We want to ensure that they are safe and we are keeping them safe with these newly implemented safety guidelines and regulations. The postal service has been around for over two centuries and with our newfound commitment to the safety, health, and wellbeing of staff and the public, we hope to keep it alive and thriving for another two centuries and beyond!