A longtime local business owner, Chris Pedersen, and his wife, Lynn, have established the Lt. Col. Rhea R. McCarthy Veterans Fund at Strongwater Farm, which helps underwrite the cost of providing free equine-assisted therapy for veterans and their immediate family members at the Tewksbury nonprofit therapeutic equestrian center while also honoring the memory of Lynn’s beloved aunt.
McCarthy, who died at age 75 in 2017, graduated from nursing school at Memorial Hospital in Worcester, before enlisting in the Army Nurse Corps. She then served as an Operating Room nurse at the 8th Field Hospital in Nha Trang during the Tet Offensive in 1968 – one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. After returning home to Massachusetts, she continued her service in the Army Reserve and served her community as an OR nurse for many years.
In 2002, McCarthy retired from the Army reserves at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. She returned to Vietnam twice afterwards, volunteering with Vets With a Mission to provide healthcare to those affected by the war. She also traveled to Africa three times with Mercy Ships, volunteering there as an OR nurse.
Meanwhile, McCarthy was always a loving and devoted aunt to Lynn, and in 1976, McCarthy gave a much-needed home to Lynn’s horse, Brown Sugar, in her own backyard. The horse meant everything to the 12-year-old during a difficult time in her life, and without her Aunt Rhea’s generosity, Lynn would have otherwise been forced to give up Brown Sugar.
“Lynn learned at a young age how horses can help you with your problems, and that’s something she’s carried through her whole life,” said Chris Pedersen, owner of six Boston-area UPS stores, including locations on Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and the South End, as well as the former longtime owner of the recently shuttered Charles Street Liquors.
Lynn earned a degree in stable and farm management from Cazenovia College in New York in 1983, and for about the past dozen years, she and Chris have both dedicated their free time to volunteering in equine-assisted service work.
Lynn previously served on the board of BINA Farm Center, while Chris also volunteered for the Sudbury nonprofit therapeutic equine center founded by neighborhood restauranter, Babak Bina, and his wife, Coryn.
Chris, who spoke enthusiastically of BINA Farm Center, said: “Lynn and I wanted to do more specifically for veterans – more unmounted, ground-based group work. That’s what led us to pursue our PATH certification as Equine Specialists in Mental Health and Learning, so we could lead these groups and ultimately launch our Stronger Together program at Strongwater Farm.”
The Pedersens first came to Strongwater Farm about three years ago, when they were seeking to log in the necessary volunteer hours to receive their certifications as PATH Certified Equine Specialists in Mental Health and Learning. They’ve since become deeply involved in the farm, with Chris now serving on the executive board.
Last May, the Pedersens established Stronger Together – a free equine therapeutic program at Strongwater for veterans and first responders, as well as for their immediate families.
The program, which offers five eight-week sessions a year, has included around 25 participants to date, with veterans accounting for about 80 percent and their spouses and other family members making up the rest of the program’s participants.
Unlike most veterans programs, which are available only to the veterans themselves, this program is open to veterans, as well as to their spouses and other immediate family members. (The program runs on Friday mornings though, often making it difficult for many children to attend, noted Pedersen.)
When an active military member is deployed for service or any time that a veteran returns home suffering from disorders like PTSD, isolation, or depression, it inevitably also impacts their families.
“Sometimes they have to learn to be together again,” said Chris of some families that have participated in the program together.
One veteran in his 80s regularly attends sessions together with his wife and their adult daughter, who works as a physical therapist.
“Once they start coming, they keep coming,” said Pedersen of the program’s participants. “Horses are nonjudgemental, so in some ways, they’re the therapists. You actually have to build a relationship with a horse. You have to approach and work with them in a way that’s not threatening. It’s a learning process, to town it down and be present to connect with a horse.”
Said Pedersen: “At Strongwater, our Stronger Together program is built around exactly this kind of connection. It’s a non-riding, unmounted program focused on confidence, communication, teamwork, and family, and it requires no prior horse experience. Working on the ground with our gentle herd, veterans rebuild trust and resilience in a safe, non-judgmental environment alongside others who understand what they’ve been through.
“Just as importantly, the program brings in families and first responders, too, because healing rarely happens in isolation. The horses give people a shared, hands-on experience that lowers defenses and opens the door to connection, both with the animals and with each other,” added Pedersen.
In a testimonial on his participation in the Stronger Together program, David A. Pais, a veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Air Force Reserve/National Guard, said in part: “I have become more mindful when I am working with the horses and the relationship I have developed with them. It has helped me with my other relationships with people. I am more aware of my interactions with them based on what I learn from working with the horses.
“The staff is amazing and really take a low-key approach to therapy, it is far from your typical group therapy sessions where people sit in a circle and talk about their issues endlessly. They teach us how to be aware of the horse’s behavior based on my emotional state that day and help me be grounded in the moment instead of getting wrapped up in my anxiety,” added Pais.
With the launch of the Lt. Col. Rhea R. McCarthy Veterans Fund, which supports programs like Stronger Together, no veteran will ever be turned away from Strongwater Farm’s programming now due to an inability to pay. (Strongwater’s veteran programming is offered free of charge to participants.)
And to give the Veterans Fund an initial boost, the Pedersens have established a $100,000 Challenge Grant, pledging to match every donation to the fund, dollar-for-dollar, up to $100,000.
The launch of the fund also comes as Strongwater Farm is marking its milestone 25th anniversary.
Since its inception, Strongwater Farm, which sits on 12 acres in Tewksbury on land leased from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and offers a stable for a dozen horses, has “improved the quality of life and health for thousands of children and adults with special needs in the Greater Boston area through professional Equine-Assisted Services (EAS),” according to the organization’s website.
Strongwater Farm is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization (so every gift is tax-deductible), as well as one of only two EAS centers in northeast Massachusetts with Premier Center accreditation from the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, International (PATH Intl.).
Reflecting on McCarthy and how this fund will now serve as a lasting tribute to someone who had such a profound impact on her personally, Lynn recalls how first as a child, and then again as an adult, her life was “forever changed by the power of horses.”
With a single act of kindness, her beloved her Aunt Rhea sparked a 50-year journey with horses for Lynn that eventually led her to Strongwater Farm, where as a program facilitator, she now helps veterans find peace and healing via equine-assisted therapy.
“Rhea was a deeply private person whose life was defined by humility,” wrote Lynn. “She would have been astonished by the publicity this campaign has generated but utterly overjoyed by its mission. When all is said and done, my ultimate hope is that Rhea is looking down from Heaven, proud of what we at Strongwater Farm are doing to help heal those who have served.”
To support Strongwater Farm and the Lt. Col. Rhea R. McCarthy Veterans Fund at Strongwater Farm, visit: https://strongwaterfarm.org/donate/