Timothy Pena is a U.S. Navy veteran, Veteran advocate, and founder of the Veterans Justice Project, an initiative focused on the experiences of Veterans navigating homelessness, transitional housing, government benefits, disability, and public systems. Pena enlisted in the Navy at 17 and later served with the Navy Seabees. In 1980, while serving aboard an amphibious ship during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, he witnessed the suicide of a Marine who had obtained an M-16 after receiving what was described as a "bad" letter from home. Pena has written that this experience, together with other military trauma, continued to affect him decades after his service.
His advocacy has also been shaped by firsthand experience with homelessness, incarceration, mental-health challenges, and the difficulties Veterans can encounter while rebuilding their lives. Rather than separating those experiences from his work, Pena has used them to examine how government programs operate from the perspective of the Veterans expected to depend upon them.
In July 2022, Pena left Phoenix for New York City. His original purpose included work related to Veteran suicide prevention and documenting the transition from homelessness to permanent housing. Shortly after arriving, he entered New York City's homeless-services system and was transferred to the Borden Avenue Veterans' Residence in Long Island City. During that period, he enrolled with the Manhattan VA and began pursuing HUD-VASH and other Veteran housing resources. His early writings described the experience as a journey from "Homeless to Homeness."
That experience developed into broader advocacy concerning systems serving Veterans experiencing homelessness in New York City. Pena's work has included participation in Veteran advisory and coordination bodies, public testimony, Freedom of Information requests, review of government and nonprofit records, and advocacy concerning transitional housing, public safety, access to VA services, government accountability, and the role of Veterans with lived experience in decisions affecting homeless Veterans.
Pena founded the Veterans Justice Project to organize this work and provide a platform for Veteran-focused research, advocacy, and public accountability. The Borden Avenue Report 2026 reflects that approach. Pena brings the perspective of both a researcher and a Veteran who personally entered the system examined in this report, while the report itself combines lived experience with government records, regulations, financial and contractual documents, law-enforcement data, oversight materials, correspondence, photographs, journalism, and other documentary evidence.
Timothy Pena
Founder/Veterans Justice Project, LLC
257 W. 29th Street #13C
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (602)663-6456
Email: tim.pena@vetjuspro.com
Website: Veterans Justice Project