Timothy Pena and Navy Veteran and now End Veteran Debt founder Jerry Ashton first became acquainted in early 2022. Jerry had entered the $20 million Suicide Prevention Challenge launched by the Veterans Affairs and was seeking out individuals who worked in suicide preventon to collaborate with on his project. Following a particular difficult 2021 culminating in a suicide attempt a few days before Christmas, getting those phone calls from Jerry with frank discussions on suicide prevention most likely saved Tim's life.
After spending 70 days in Maricopa County Jail under a mental health hold, Tim found himself homeless in April 2016. He was referred to a VA Grant & Per Diem (GPD) Transitional Program, now Catholic Charities MANA House, where he spent 19 months as a resident and front desk clerk with 48 other VA - eligible veterans experiencing homelessness. In addition to the front desk duties,Tim and another veteran, Herbie, also ran the Outreach Program with 100 - 120 visits a month whereas veterans in the shelters, on the streets, or in camps; could come in and shower, wash clothes, check email and get a hot meal with access to all the resouces that the resident veterans received.
It is that experience that has provided Tim the ability to understand the transitional process as both the homeless veteran, but also as a staff member. It is this rare insight which has allowed Tim to understand the mental health challenges that come with experiencing homelessness and the crushing hopelessness that comes with it. In the last 18 months since arriving to NYC, Tim has become a member of both the NYC Veterans Task Force and the NYC Persons With Living Experience (PWLEx) Continuum of Care.
The VA GPD program is designed to provide food, nutritional advice, counseling, health care, mental health treatment, alcohol and other substance abuse services, and case management services for sustainable housing, financial stability, justice - related issues, and mental health treatment. There exists a connection between hopelessness and suicide and being homeless can become the catalyst for risky behavior including drug abuse which can then result in overdose and death.
It is while staying in the only GPD transitional program that Tim began to document his journey from suicidal in Phoenix to sustainable housing in NYC with a series he calls, "Be the Story." He is also a member of Military Veterans in Journalism and has also been the subject of numerous articles, interviews, and even video interactions going back to his days in Arizona listed by topic below.
