Most shelters are lacking in any type of vetting process so it’s a crap shoot who you might end up with in the bunk next to you. What makes the Borden Ave Veterans’ Residency unique is that there is no vetting of veterans sent there and the veterans enrolled in the only VA’s transitional program are subjected to unprovoked assaults, microwave eggs and cold rice, and daily drug overdoses. All the while the NYC Dept. of Homeless Services pockets nearly $4 million/year from Veterans Affairs to provide us with a safe, drug-free environment while we get our feet under us again.
Veterans in the transitional program are to remain drug-free, be addressing any court issues, applying for sustainable housing, and a whole host of other requirements all centered on a successful exit. It is impossible to be expected to excel when a third of those around you are ineligible for VA benefits for various reasons and therefore, have absolutely nothing to gain by playing by the rules. At least on the street, you can see an attack coming and defend yourself. Not so in most shelters, especially Borden Ave. Prison with a day-pass.
