PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Timothy Pena, Founder of Veterans Justice Project, on Veterans' Housing and Support Services
1:46:06
·
3 min
Timothy Pena, founder of Veterans Justice Project, testifies about the challenges faced by veterans in accessing appropriate housing and support services in New York City. He highlights the discrepancies in treatment between veterans with honorable discharges and those with other discharge statuses, emphasizing the need for better-quality services for veterans in good standing with Veterans Affairs.
- Pena criticizes the current state of veterans' shelters, particularly Borden Avenue, describing it as violent and drug-infested.
- He argues for separation between veterans with honorable discharges and those with bad conduct discharges or who have "disgraced" their service.
- Pena calls for the fulfillment of Congressional promises for safe, drug-free environments with comprehensive support services for transitioning veterans.
Timothy Pena
1:46:06
Good afternoon.
1:46:07
My name is Timothy Pena.
1:46:08
I run an organization called Veterans Justice Project.
1:46:13
Glad to be here.
1:46:15
I'd like to make a couple of comments, concerning what seems to be an overwhelming issue of access to the veterans, especially when it comes to programs such as what you're proposing today, arts, and another program that we're having with housing.
1:46:37
It's time to lay us on the table.
1:46:41
I am a service connected disabled veteran with an honorable discharge.
1:46:50
I am eligible for all VA benefits, including HUD VASH.
1:46:56
There are veterans in this community who are not eligible for those benefits.
1:47:04
There are veterans in this community who have not an honorable discharge, but a bad conduct discharge.
1:47:12
There are veterans in this community who have disgraced our service.
1:47:20
Those veterans, I'm having to share space with.
1:47:26
Those veterans are sleeping at Borden Avenue.
1:47:30
They're the ones who are tearing sinks off the walls.
1:47:33
They're the ones who are dealing drugs.
1:47:35
They're the ones who are overdosing and and dying, like we had another veteran who passed who died of overdose again last week.
1:47:45
These veterans, whether they are eligible for VA benefits or not, are not my concern.
1:47:55
My concern is when I'm transitioning, and this is what we're talking about, into a place like New York City, which is what I did two and a half years ago, I was guaranteed by Congress a safe, drug free environment with support of services, wraparound supportive services, housing resources, access to mental health, transportation, outreach activities, and be able to have a community engagement for the community that I was moving into.
1:48:38
I got a violent drug infested shelter because Department of Homeless Services doesn't want to separate the good guys from the bad guys.
1:48:52
These programs, these federally funded grant per diem programs are meant for us.
1:49:02
A lot of the city programs, I understand that, are for anyone who served.
1:49:09
They should be able to have those services provided them.
1:49:13
But as a veteran in good standing with Veterans Affairs, I'm should be afforded a little higher and better service than what I'm receiving and all the other veterans over at Borden Avenue are presently receiving.
1:49:30
Thank you very much.
