In July 2022, Navy Veteran Timothy Pena came to New York City in search of a new start. As a veteran with service-connected PTSD and a former front desk clerk of a transitional program in Phoenix, he was confident that the Veterans Affairs Grant and Per Diem Transitional Program would provide a safe, drug-free environment with access to supportive services and housing resources to assist him in receiving the care he needed for a successful transition. What he encountered was a violent, drug-infested NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) city shelter with inedible food, a housing director who blames veterans for being homeless, no community engagement, and security sleeping in the halls. NYPD is a regular visitor for assaults, overdoses, even deaths.
A Tale of Two Transitions: The Forgotten Veterans of Borden Ave
According to Reports, Veterans in NYC are Disappearing from Veterans Affairs Transitional Program.
Veterans Deserve Better
Veterans Affairs Grant & Per Diem Transitional Program
The GPD Program is Veterans Affair’s largest transitional housing program for Veterans experiencing homelessness and is permanently authorized under Public Law 109-461.
Since 1994, the GPD Program has awarded grants to community-based organizations to provide transitional housing with wraparound supportive services to assist vulnerable Veterans move into permanent housing. According to Veterans Affairs, the GPD Program, “is offered annually (as funding permits) by the Department of Veterans Affairs to fund community agencies providing services to Veterans experiencing homelessness.
Veterans Affairs funds an estimated 600 agencies that provide over 14,500 beds for eligible Veterans. Grantees work closely with an assigned liaison from the local VAMC. The VA GPD liaison monitors the services the grantees offer to Veterans and provides direct assistance to them. Grantees also collaborate with community-based organizations to connect Veterans with employment, housing and additional social services to promote housing stability. The maximum stay in this housing is up to 24 months, with the goal of moving Veterans into permanent housing.
Veterans Affairs Dept. of Homeless Services Complicit in Deaths
The veterans within the GPD Program at Borden Avenue Veterans’ Residence are being abused and threatened by NYC Department of Homeless Services and the NYC Institute of Community Living security and staff, while Manhattan Veterans Affairs Director of Homeless Services Karen Fuller has failed to address violations of criteria as described by Public Law 109-461. She has refused to file complaints with Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and has allowed VA-eligible veterans to suffer insurmountable hardship in a violent, drug-infested city shelter with Level 2 and 3 sex offenders, gang members, and drug trafficking. Many veterans have died in the VA program, yet no investigation has been conducted by Veterans Affairs. Timothy Pena was kicked off the NYC Veterans Task Force by VA Karen Fuller and the SSVF transitional programs after he raised questions on the treatment he and other veterans received while in a Federally-funded transitional program.
A report released by the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General backs up claims of misconduct reporting that 1 in 5 veterans are ‘disappearing’ from VA transitional programs, then unlawfully documented as a successful discharge. The following is a series of photos, FOIA responses, and information that compare what the GPD program as sanctioned and funded by the VA and Congress and that of what Pena experienced in NYC at the GPD program together with articles from local journalists about Borden Ave.
A Tale of Two Transitions: MANA House / Phoenix and Borden Avenue / NYC (Printable pdf 110 pgs.)
About the Author
Navy Veteran and advocate Timothy Pena moved to NYC in July 2022 to collaborate on a documentary on veteran suicide prevention. His experiences as a homeless veteran in NYC inform his advocacy work, including his articles on transitioning from homelessness, testimony before the NYS Department of Veterans Affairs, and his role in the NYC Veterans Task Force. His journey highlights the need for urgent reforms in how veterans are supported by the city’s shelter system.