- March 4, 2025
Remembering Heroes has been Cathy Heighter’s passion for nearly 22 years. She co-founded the nonprofit after her son, Army Cpl. Raheen Tyson Heighter, was killed in Iraq on July 24, 2003. Since then, she has dedicated her life to providing services for veterans, first responders, active-duty service members and their families.
She stepped down from the Palm Coast City Council last year to devote more time to the nonprofit. Her dream has been to establish the Remembering Heroes Health and Wellness Serenity Ranch to provide wellness programs, mental health support and respite services for veterans and their loved ones in a natural setting.
That dream took shape on Feb. 28 with a groundbreaking ceremony for the ranch on land she purchased three years ago at 2217 Lancewood St. in Bunnell.
Plans for the 1.4-acre ranch includes an 800-square-foot gathering hall, gardens and benches on the grounds, a modest ranch house where she will live and a small guest house.
The ranch will serve veterans, first responders and Gold Star families as well as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Junior ROTC programs and community organizations that align with Remembering Heroes’ vision, she said.
The ranch will offer a variety of therapeutic services, retreats, counseling programs, physical rehabilitation and social gatherings, Heighter said.
“Counselors and therapists will come,” Heighter said. “Wellness, yoga and tai chi instructors will come and service officers who will work with veterans in getting their benefits.”
Rev. Mark Schreiber, a retired Navy chaplain, delivered the invocation at the groundbreaking. Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary Cmdr. Marty Feidler and Lisa Cancel of Changing Homelessness spoke at the ceremony.
As work on the ranch gets underway, more donations are needed to complete the project, Heighter said. Remembering Heroes is looking for sponsors who can support specific initiatives such as retreats, mental health programs or contributing toward building memorial spaces. Those who wish to become a sponsor or make a monetary or in-kind donation are asked to call 386-931-8323 or email [email protected].
“This is a part of my dream,” Heighter said. “My passion and love for my hero community is part of the reason why I resigned from the City Council. I’m very passionate about this. This is how I spent the last (22 years) of my life in remembrance of my son and all those who have served our country. It’s hard to turn away from it. I couldn’t remove myself from it. It’s who I am and what I do.”
