Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

It was a bizarre scene at Council Member Vicki Paladino’s office last week in Queens. In addition to about 50 veterans, I assume from the neighborhood of Whitestone, I brought three other veterans; two homeless and in shelters, and the other living in black mold infested studio apartment in the Bronx he was referred to by Borden Avenue Veterans’ Residence. While CM Paladino’s office has been fantastic in assisting with one veteran and his combat K9 get housing, they are still in denial that veterans are being abused in shelters.

After spending 5 months in Borden Ave before I was removed because of veiled threats, a consolation for the abuse I suffered at the hands of Borden Ave staff and NYC Dept. of Veterans Services (NYCDVS), Manhattan VA Director of Homeless Services (VADHS) and non-veteran Karen Fuller offered me a position on the NYC Veterans Task Force (VTF) where I was continuously questioned on my integrity, accused of lying by non-veteran NYC officials, and subjected to an NDA after I raised concerns over the treatment of veterans living in shelters who have been kicked out. Despite what non-veteran and Associate Commissioner at NYC DHS Sonya Y. Russell believes, when someone has their worldly possessions boxed up and waiting in the lobby of a shelter, that is being kicked out. Rather than address this situation on behalf of the veteran and his combat K9 (13 shelters in 20 months), I was accused of ‘maligning’ the incredible integrity of the NYC DHS resulting in an NDA from Russell and Fuller.

One of the issues I took on from first arriving was the presence of open bunks supposedly for veterans not eligible for the Veterans Affairs Grant & Per Diem program that provides housing, employment, mental health, and numerous other resources for veterans in transition from homelessness, active-duty, even incarceration for which the VA pays $68.64 a day/veteran to NYC Dept of Homeless Services. The contract for Borden Ave is for 154 veterans, yet there are 220 total in the facility which leaves another 70 veterans with Bad Conduct Discharges, Dishonorable Discharges, and Sexual Offenders to share a program meant for those veterans who served this country honorably and need these programs to get back on their feet.

One VA-enrolled veteran was still sent to Borden Avenue located in an industrial area in Long Island City and across the East River from the Manhattan VA after telling intake he had been beaten on the subway, suffering “8 to 10 punches” to the back of his head. When I found him, he was sleeping on the sidewalk outside of Borden Ave because he feared for his life in the open bunks. After taking him to the VA hospital for evaluation, I explained to BAVR Manager Belcher that he was feeling threatened and needed to be in a cubicle for his own safety. He was refused because his VA status couldn’t be verified that he was a GPD veteran on a weekend and shelter intake neglected to provide proper documentation. He proceeded to retreat to the safer subway system where he sustained two more beatings.

My first order of business with the NYC Veterans Task Force was to advocate for the removal of the open bunks that occurred in April. At the time, I was told by Karen Fuller that I was responsible for BAVR ‘losing’ 20 beds for the shelter. So, I was shocked to be told that, ‘It doesn’t matter who takes credit,” after Chairman of the NYC Committee on Veterans and Council Member Robert Holden and NYCDVS Commissioner James Hendon practically broke their arms patting themselves on the back while taking credit for the cubicles. And while CM Paladino’s office has been wonderful with individual veterans, when changes are advocated by veterans with lived experience, the credit should be given where credit is due. Meanwhile, they are doing nothing about the VA-enrolled veterans living in a drug-infested and violent shelter while Fuller and Hendon deny them as ‘transitional.’ 

While Commissioner Hendon’s staff and the Manhattan VA DHS Karen Fuller continue to openly denigrate BAVR veterans, it should be noted that this was the first time I had an opportunity to personally speak with Mr. Holden who appeared surprised at the revelation of who was directly responsible for the removal of the open bunks.

I first approached Institute of Community Living Director Jamie Rubin at the NYC Veteran’s Day Parade in November 2022 with my concerns of the open bunks and suggestions to separating VA eligible and non-VA eligible veterans, but was rebuffed by Rubin, telling me, “I disagree.” It is no surprise that Mr. Holden is unaware of the abuse or else he wouldn’t be making such statements in front of NYCDVS staff who openly disparage Honorable Veterans while they can be abused by sexual offenders, drug addicts, and violent criminals while NYC DHS and NYC DVS rake in millions of VA and taxpayer dollars.

While it is understandable how it is neither Vickie Paladino nor CM Robert Holden have remained oblivious to the abuses, the same cannot be said for Manhattan VA DHS Director Karen Fuller and NYCDVS Commissioner Hendon who I have personally discussed these conditions on numerous occasions going back more than a year (Be the Story_HUD/VASH Abusing Veterans, November 27, 2022). Inappropriate comments have been made to other GPD program veterans dismising alerts of assaults, drug overdose, and deaths. And while Comm. Hendon talks constantly about wanting to connect with the "veteran in the shadows," he blatantly ignores those veterans standing in front of him and in shelters he is directly responsible for while his staff deny calling them transitional and telling them they need to be thankful for a violent, drug-infested VA program because, “That’s all you get.”

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Give Credit Where Credit Is Do

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