A Tale of Two Transitional Programs

Timothy Pena • October 20, 2024

Nutritional meals are a vital part of the transitional program. 

The Veterans Affairs Grant and Per Diem Transitional Program is Veterans Affair’s largest transitional housing program for Veterans experiencing homelessness and is permanently authorized under Public Law 109-461.


Title 38 Chapter I § 61.2 Supportive Services—General

Transitional programs which receive grants must design supportive services. Such services must provide appropriate assistance, or aid participants in obtaining appropriate assistance, to address the needs of homeless veterans.

The following are examples of supportive services:


 -- Providing food, nutritional advice, counseling, health care, mental health treatment, alcohol and other substance abuse services, case management services

Meals and Food Donations / Borden Avenue


Community groups are not allowed in Borden Avenue, so food donations are dropped off in front of the building. There also are no cooks on staff and it has been said they can’t cook because of insurance. According to the DHS budgets from 2020 - 2024, $0 is allocated for the kitchen which instead is used to host a culinary school. For this Thanksgiving donation in 2021, it would have been impossible for those turkeys to be cooked and most likely went home with staff members.

Meals and Food Donations / MANA House


Donations and meals from church groups, veteran’s organizations, and leftovers from concerts are all accepted and made available in the community refrigerator at MANA House. Each team also has a refrigerator for personal food items and the cupboards are always full of canned goods.  An on-site chef prepares nutritious meals daily.

Community Engagement and MANA House


Community groups are a vital part of the transitional program for veterans and the Arizona Diamondbacks have been great partners not only with the many tickets to baseball games, visits to MANA House with pizza and souvenirs, but also in the form of a $100,000 donation for the new kitchen in 2018. While the D-backs have been great partners, it is the community that shows up on Saturday nights, Sunday mornings, and special occasions with meals and love which are the true heart of MANA House.

Timothy Pena initially traveled to NYC at the invitation of RIP Medical Debt founder and U.S. Navy Veteran Jerry Ashton to collaborate for a documentary on veteran suicide prevention . Soon after arriving,  Tim came to the realization he rather be homeless in NYC than commit suicide in Phoenix and spent five months in a violent, drug-infested shelter before obtaining his HUD/VASH voucher for supportive housing. While detailing his journey from homeless to homeness with a series of articles called, 'Be the Story', he has testified before the NYS Department of Veterans Affairs, is a former member of the NYC Veterans Task Force and current member of Military Veterans in Journalism.
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