As a lieutenant fighting in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam in 1969, Stephen Peck embraced the Marine Corps vow to “never leave anyone behind.”
It is that loyalty to the men and women who have served their country that drives Peck as the president and CEO of the United States Veterans Initiative (U.S.VETS), the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting veterans making the transition to civilian life.
Peck, the son of Hollywood icon Gregory Peck, has been working on behalf of homeless and other troubled veterans for over 20 years. He was appointed president of U.S.VETS in August 2010 following the sudden death of Dwight Radcliff.
After his service in Vietnam with the 1st Marine Division as a forward artillery observer, Peck began his career as a filmmaker, and, in fact, later made documentaries focusing on both veterans and the homeless. He now leads an organization with 11 sites in 5 states and Washington D.C. that serve more than 2,500 veterans a day.
Peck, who was senior vice president for Community Development prior to being appointed president, was the founding director of U.S.VETS largest site: U.S.VETS – Long Beach at Villages at Cabrillo, 26 acres of former naval housing in Long Beach, Calif., the largest social services program for homeless veterans in the country.
At the Long Beach facility, 545 formerly homeless veterans live on site and receive a variety of services according to their need, ranging from substance abuse treatment to employment assistance to permanent housing. A partnership with the Long Beach VA Medical Center brings professional medical and psychiatric services to the veterans on site.
Peck began his full-time commitment to veterans in 1991 when founded the non-profit, Far From Home Foundation to advocate for homeless veterans issues and raise funds for fledgling rehabilitation programs.
In 1993 he began working full time at the Comprehensive Homeless Program at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. His nearly four years as an outreach worker and program coordinator at the VA gave him an intimate knowledge of the needs and hopes of homeless veterans. Simultaneously, he returned to graduate school and earned a Masters Degree in Social Work at USC.
In 1996, with his desire to work for a more comprehensive and far reaching solution for homeless vets, he accepted an offer to become Director of Community Development for U.S. VETS.
In 1990, Peck produced made two films about veterans. “Heart of the Warrior” profiles two veterans, one an American Vietnam veteran, the second, a Russian veteran of Afghanistan. “Far From Home” depicts a day in the life, the desperate struggles, and recurrent nightmares of six homeless combat veterans living and taking care of each other on Venice Beach, California.
Now, in addition to his duties as U.S.VETS president and CEO, Peck continues to advocate on a state and national level to bring attention to possible solutions for the homeless, using as a model the comprehensive programs U.S.VETS has developed.
He has received numerous awards for his work with homeless veterans, including the 1993 Public Spirit Award given annually by the national office of the American Legion Auxiliary for distinguished public service, the 2008 David Landry Memorial Community Service Award from the City of Long Beach for Outstanding Community Service, the 2010 Meritorious Service Award from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, and the 2011 W. June Simmons Distinguished Alumni Award from the USC School of Social Work.
