Veterans in Federal Veterans Affairs Transitional Program Abandoned in Violent NYC DHS Shelters

New York City Veterans experiencing homelessness, half of which are NYers, need to a safe place and organization to file claims, seek housing, and to advocate for them if necessary.

Honorably discharged veterans are entitled to receive these services along with access to resources through the Veterans Affairs Grant & Per Diem Program (GPD), one of six other transitional programs, but the only one that includes transitional housing. The GPD Program is Veterans Affair’s largest transitional housing program for Veterans experiencing homelessness and is permanently authorized under Public Law 109-461.

For veterans experiencing homelessness in NYC the only choice for the GPD program is at Borden Avenue Veterans’ Residence (BAVR) on a dark industrial street fraught with nearly impassable sidewalks and a busy passenger train track crossing in Long Island City, NY. NYC Dept. of Homeless Services is awarded a grant of nearly $4 million to provide a safe, drug-free environment with outreach activities, nutritious meals, access to housing resources, transportation to healthcare appointments, and community engagement for 154 eligible veterans in the GPD program. DHS also provides shelter services for an additional 70 supposed veterans for a total of 224. Of the 224 ‘veterans’ at BAVR on August 1, 2024, only 107 were enrolled in the GPD transitional program. While veterans are being targeted by staff and shipped out to horrible shelters, BAVR leaves open beds. It should be noted that year after year, NYC Dept of Homeless Services has been granted the full award for 154 veterans. So, while NYC Dept. of Homeless Services is under investigation for corruption, the few veterans still in the GPD program have no place to turn.

The problem here is that BAVR is supposed to be a federally-funded Congressional Dept of Veterans Affairs transitional program for veterans experiencing homelessness, and not a prison-like shelter. Veteran shelter staff who harbor unfounded resentments towards fellow veterans for being homeless then infect their non-veteran colleagues much like the one rotten blueberry in a tray of good ones. Veterans who dare complain are quickly ‘transferred’ to some of the worst DHS shelters in the city, taken out of the GPD transitional program, and then by proxy, the HUD/VASH housing program and forced to start over. The veteran’s files are red flagged, so shelter staff at the new place aren’t very receptive and tend to favor other shelter residents with housing assistance.

According to the NYC Department of Veterans Services, they are that safe place as Commissioner James Hendon and its mission statement tells us.

“The NYC Department of Veterans' Services (DVS) connects, mobilizes, and empowers New York City's Veteran community in order to foster purpose-driven lives for US Military Service Members – past and present – in addition to their caregivers, survivors, and families.”

This mission statement confirmed by statements made to the Veterans Advisory Board (VAB) by Commissioner James Hendon and DVS Housing Director Lamarr Wheeler during a VAB hearing held April 17, 2024. The question arose from one of the members asking about the process for a homeless veteran coming into New York City and what to expect. Department of Veterans' Services Housing Director Lamarr Wheeler told City Council Member and Chairman of Veterans Services Council Robert Holden and Veterans Advisory Board members during the April 17, 2024, meeting that once a veteran self-identified as a VA-eligible veteran and “once you’re in the shelter, you’re mine.” Wheeler continues to state that Borden Ave is the, "Cadillac of Shelters,” but that being in a shelter is, "not supposed to be totally comfortable" and that he "has people (from DVS) embedded at Borden Ave."

But, during a several conversations surrounding a veteran who had been ‘transferred’ out of Borden Ave during the summer of 2023, Wheeler said that veterans must be thankful for Borden Ave. because, "that's all you get." Months later in DVS offices, Wheeler warned of repeating that statement publicly. A sentiment apparently mirrored by Commissioner Hendon. Despite dozens of complaints and requests for intervention between NYC DHS and veterans who had been unsubstantiatedly tossed from Borden Ave, Comm. Hendon said that NYC DVS is only there to “inform and assist” the veteran and that intervening on the veteran’s behalf is not what they do.

This mixed messaging has left many veterans experiencing without hope and feeling abandoned by a NYC Dept. of Veterans Services and at the mercy of a corrupt NYC Dept. of Homeless Services (DOI report 10/17/2024) which is receiving millions of dollars a year to attend to VA-eligible veterans not seeking a hand out, but a hand up.

Veterans Abandoned printable pdf

Timothy Pena is a service-connected disabled Navy veteran for PTSD and has written about his experiences with mental health, homelessness, and the judicial system. Suffering mental illness, he initially visited NYC to collaborate on a documentary for veteran suicide but decided to stay after realizing he would rather be homeless in NYC than dead in Phoenix. He has been writing stories and blogs about his journey from “homeless to homeness” in the NYC Dept of Homeless Services system and possible corruption within DHS and Veterans Affairs Grant & Per Diem Transitional Program.