Our History

In the spring of 1994, a Stanford University student volunteering in the Alzheimer's Ward at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Administration Hospital discovered a group of patients suffering from loneliness. He made a vow that these patients, and others like them, would never know such despair again. With that promise, United Students for Veterans' Health (USVH) was born. The Stanford USVH program began with forty volunteers dedicating their afternoons and evenings to interact with the Alzheimer's patients by going on walks, playing games, and engaging in conversation. A call to serve echoed across the nation and USVH grew into what it is today: a student-led organization with chapters of caring volunteers at VA Hospitals across the nation.