She lives alone with her dog.
Mail is one of the ways Santiago stays in touch. But, since July, she hasn’t even had that to keep her going.
“I’ve been missing my important mail because I can’t get there,” Santiago told 10Investigates’ Jennifer Titus.
Her mailbox is part of a group of mailboxes that she says is too far away from her home for her to walk to.
“I’ve had packages delivered, but they go back because I can’t get there,” Santiago explained.
For a while, other people were helping pick up and deliver her mail. But, over the summer, that stopped — leaving Santiago with only one option: walk.
10Investigates went to Santiago’s home and walked the route to her mailbox ourselves.
It took us five minutes to walk the distance without any medical issues. For Santiago, with her walker, she says it takes her at least 30 minutes. And, when she’s done, she says it’s almost too much for her body to handle.
She spoke with employees at her local Temple Terrace post office. They told her to get a mailbox and a doctor’s note.
She immediately ordered a mailbox that was still in the box when we visited her home in October. On August 14, she faxed her doctor’s note. She didn’t get a response. So, she has faxed it again, every week since.
After nearly two months with no response, she decided to Turn to 10.