Timothy Pena initially traveled to NYC at the invitation of RIP Medical Debt founder and U.S. Navy Veteran Jerry Ashton to collaborate for his project, Veterans Mission Possible. Soon after arriving, Tim decided he would rather be homeless in NYC than commit suicide in Phoenix and spent five months in a shelter before obtaining his HUD/VASH voucher for supportive housing while detailing his journey from homeless to homeness with a series of articles called, 'Be the Story'. He has testified before the NYS Department of Veterans Affairs, is a member of the NYC Veterans Task Force and Military Veterans in Journalism, while founding The Forgotten Veteran non-profit. Email: Timothy Pena
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Security for the VA transitional program nearly twice cost of food for homeless veterans at $6.60 a day
Timothy Pena, veteran and journalist:
“Writing saved my life”
INTERVIEW SEEN FROM THE US. Timothy Pena is an American veteran who has been in prison and homeless. He helps his peers to reintegrate and access social assistance. He also became a journalist, to help make America and the media understand the plight of veterans.
New York City Department of Veterans Services and Veterans Advisory Meetings
Timothy Pena • Oct 20, 2022
A few nights ago I attended my first meeting at 1 Centre Street in Manhattan at the offices of NYC Department of Veterans Services (DVS). I would so love to do outreach for them and I strongly encourage any veterans to contact their local DVS and talk to them about registration.
I was pleased to see Mr. Kevin Meggett of Black Veterans for Social Justice in Brooklyn. He wasted no time in expressing his views of going through the city for federal veterans. He is spot on when he spoke about the need for a federally funded veterans transitional and long-term tenement exclusively for veterans. I speak from experience when I say he is correct in the analogy that we gave an oath the all the people and not just to the people of New York. This is specifically directed to the assigning a Cares number and how that equates to Hitler and tattooing numbers on them. Although in the extreme, the black community is justly concerned about a forever ‘tattoo’ assigned to them by a city or any government agency or organization.
As Mr. Meggett pointed out, veterans are nothing like civilians. We just aren’t. And as much as the public would like to think we are all like the television shows, there are a few of us who have been severely impacted by military service. Many of us struggle with PTSD, depression, anxiety, etc. Some of us have struggled with substance abuse whether it be alcohol, drugs, or both. A good number of veterans were severely sexually assaulted just because they were gay. Either by male-on-male assaults or male on gay female soldiers out of cruelty. It should be no surprise that many ended up or currently are in prison. Where else would they be expected to be? There is no normal for those people like me.
We who are/have been most at risk are barely accepted by the same brothers and sisters because they’re okay, so there’s no love there. We are not the good veterans. We are the ones who go to prison, have public breakdowns, self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, and suffer mental illness. There is no doubt there are people who doubt the veteran. There are people who don’t believe the veteran they know. The veteran who struggles with abuse, mental illness and suicide. But, there are 6,300+ friends and family who might have questioned the sincerity of that veteran in their life until that veteran committed suicide.
New York City Department of Veterans Services and Veterans Advisory Meetings
