Timothy Pena (Veterans Justice Project) testifies on stigma, housing, and fear of disclosure

Take it away.

Good morning, Chairman Moreno, members of the committee.

My name is Timothy Pena.

I'm a disabled United States veteran, founder of Veterans Justice Project.

I speak today as a veteran who experienced homelessness,

as a person living with HIV,

and as someone concerned about the growing barriers preventing vulnerable LGBTQ plus veterans from seeking help.

I in part left the military as a 20-year-old because I was being sexually molested.

I often hear questions about why so many veterans fail to self-identify or refuse services.

My experience tells me the answer is simple.

We're afraid.

When I arrived in New York, I spent five months at a Borden Avenue Veterans residence.

During that time, I interacted with more than a dozen caseworkers across the VA, HUDVASH, HASA, DHS, and the Department of Veterans Services and other agencies.

Yet despite all those resources, I frequently felt alone, confused, and fearful.

As a veteran living with HIV, Mo, every conversation involving housing meant disclosing sensitive medical information.

Veterans seeking HASA,

Support housing vouchers are afforded very little privacy in a congregate setting such as Borden Avenue.

Everyone knows everyone else's business.

Rumors spread quickly, and veterans are left wondering whether the next person who learns something about them will use it against them.

I consider myself heterosexual, yet merely being HIV positive creates opportunities for people to make assumptions and then act upon those prejudices.

Stigma still exists.

Those fears are not their own.

Erotical.

Theoretical.

Just two months ago, another veteran told me that the only reason I have an apartment is because I have AIDS.

It's an ignorant statement, dehumanizing, and absolutely not true.

But that's the world that I'm stuck in.

It has erased years of struggle and suggested that housing was somehow handed to me because of an illness.

Fear of disclosure also affects health care.

Veterans may avoid seeking treatment through the VA or asking questions about available programs because they fear someone in the shelter will find out.

Many veterans are either not properly informed about services or are simply too afraid to ask questions because they perceive staff as apathetic or doubt whether they will be protected.

Continue.

During my five months at Borden Avenue, I lost 24 pounds.

I witnessed assaults, overdoses, veterans sleeping outside because they feared for their safety.

I saw visible injuries on residents in an environment that I believed was harmful to recovery and mental health.

Subsequent records have shown approximately 1,365 emergency calls to Borden Avenue between August 2024 and December 2025.

In that 16 months, it's involving assaults, emotionally disturbed persons,

injuries, unconscious individuals, and suspected overdoses.

These are not the conditions that vulnerable veterans should be forced to endure while they are also trying to deal with things like I have.

At the same time, reductions in LGBTQ plus

Related programs and protections within the Department of Veterans Affairs send a troubling message to veterans already reluctant to come forward.

Symbolism matters.

If veterans do not believe they will be treated with dignity, they simply stop asking for help.

I have felt attacked by this committee when a council member once told me to go back to Phoenix.

I have watched the veterans of

advisory board repeatedly minimize the concerns of homeless veterans.

I have experienced what I believe to be open disdain from Department of Veterans Services after raising concerns about the safety and welfare of the veterans back in 2022 when I first arrived.

This still continues today.

Yet I remain optimistic because I know New York City itself is better than that.

I feel safe in my neighborhood and throughout this city.

What concerns me are not New Yorkers.

It is whether the institutions charged with protecting LGBTQ veterans are truly listening to those most at risk.

I don't believe they are.

If we are serious about reducing veteran homelessness, preventing suicide, then we must recognize that privacy, dignity, trust, and accountability are every bit as important as housing.

No veteran should have to choose between seeking treatment and protecting themselves from these stigmas.

No veteran should have to fear violence because of a medical condition or because of their orientation.

And no veteran should have to suffer in silence because they no longer trust the institutions created to serve them.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Pena.

I'll note that I've never told you to go back to Phoenix, and I'm glad you're a New Yorker, and I value your perspective in these hearings very much.

Thank you for being here.