Our founder met Steve around 2001 in Ramona, California, through the martial arts studios Steve owned. Steve was the kind of man people orbit — disciplined, generous with his time, devoted to his students and his family. They became close friends.
In 2004, Steve's eleven-year-old son Jordan was left quadriplegic after an ATV accident. To fund his son's care, Steve returned to active duty — a U.S. Army Ranger serving in Cyber Operations. After his second deployment to Afghanistan in 2007, he came home with a Purple Heart for combat injuries and a Bronze Star.
He also came home carrying wounds that don't show up in photographs: PTSD, then opioid dependency, then alcohol. Despite every intervention his friends could mount, Steve became homeless in Los Angeles — and we lost him to suicide.
“Our goal is that Steve's life will benefit others for generations,
and our work will be his legacy.”
— Michael Mallonee, Founder
Every Pathfinder House, every intake call, every DD-214 recovered and every veteran who walks back into stable housing carries Steve's name forward. The program alias you'll sometimes see — Homeward Bound (Steven's Legacy)— is not a slogan. It's a promise.