Who We Are

In addition to our partners, The Armory Project is successful as a result of the investment and dedication of veterans, community leaders, subject matter experts, and researchers. TAP is supported by an advisory board and community engagement staff from the VA, and the work is led by a VA research team with support from veteran advisors. Together, we’re developing strategies to prevent firearm suicide by creating time and distance between a person in a suicidal crisis and a firearm.

 TAP Advisory Board

TAP is supported by a diverse and prestigious group of advisors working to prevent firearm suicides. 

Community Engagement & Partnership Coordinators

TAP aligns with the suicide prevention work of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The goals of VA’s Community Engagement & Partnership Coordinator (“CEPC”) programs include:

  • strengthening access to and delivery of suicide care,

  • using community partnerships to create protective environments, and

  • identifying and supporting veterans at risk for suicide (regardless of whether they are engaged with the VA in their healthcare or not).

We are grateful for the ongoing partnership and collaboration with the Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinators (CEPCs) in Louisiana.

  • Ronell Day

    Ronell Day, MA is a Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to his appointment, he served as a Veteran Peer Champion for The Armory Project (formerly VISION). Ronell is a U.S. Navy veteran with 10 years of service including experience as Command Suicide Prevention Coordinator, sexual assault prevention, and victim advocacy. Originally from Southeast Louisiana, Ronell holds a master’s degree in human services counseling and is a proud father of 3 boys.

  • Renard Dominique

    Renard Dominique, Ed.D. has served as a Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator with the Department of Veterans Affairs in New Orleans since 2022. A native New Orleanian, Renard is a 20-year Veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. He holds degrees in Psychology (B.S.), Clinical Mental Health Counseling (M.A.), and Educational Leadership (Ed.D.). He previously served as the program manager for Bastion Community of Resilience in New Orleans.

The Armory Project Team

The Armory Project team (formerly known as VISION) is a coalition of Veterans, community leaders, and experts in public health and research who created and tested TAP in their home state of Louisiana. TAP’s work focuses on building collaboration between firearms professionals and instructors, law enforcement, community leaders, healthcare professionals and others to develop and implement strategies to prevent firearm suicide by creating time and distance between a person in a suicidal crisis and a loaded firearm. Members championed TAP because they are united in promoting secure firearm storage messaging and practices to prevent firearm misuse, accident, theft, and suicide. We also seek to connect firearm owners—including Veterans, service members, and their families—with resources and support during times of distress to prevent firearm suicide and to foster healing for those who have lost someone to firearm suicide.

  • Jennifer “Gala” True, PhD

    Principal Investigator, VA Research

    Gala is Richard A. Culbertson and Susan A. Leary Endowed Professor in Community and Population Medicine at the LSU School of Medicine and an Investigator with the VA’s South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC). An anthropologist by training, Gala’s work focuses on community-engaged approaches to suicide prevention. Gala was an original Principal Investigator on the research leading to the creation of The Armory Project.

  • Claire Houtsma, PhD

    Co-Principal Investigator, VA Research

    Claire is a Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System and a Clinical Investigator with the South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC). Her background in suicide prevention research has focused on the role of firearms, capability for suicide, and sociocultural influences on suicide risk.

  • Lauren Reyes

    Program Assistant, VA Research

    Lauren Reyes is a Research Health Science Specialist at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System and serves as the project coordinator for The Armory Project. She recently graduated from Tulane University with a B.S. in Psychology and minors in Sociology and Public Health. Over the last 2 years, she has collaborated with Drs. Constans, True, and Houtsma on research projects related to suicide risk factors, safe firearm storage practices, lethal means counseling, and U.S. firearm policy. Lauren hopes to obtain her PhD in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis on posttraumatic stress disorder and other trauma and stressor-related disorders.

  • Kevin Berry

    Marketing and Communications Consultant

    Kevin Berry serves as a marketing and communications consultant to The Armory Project, supporting its mission to promote voluntary, temporary firearm storage and reduce suicide through community-based solutions. Kevin is the founder of Marketing Stable and has over a decade of experience leading marketing strategy for nonprofits and public health initiatives. Kevin brings a unique ability to bridge worlds that often speak past each other. He also leads the marketing efforts for Walk the Talk America, a national nonprofit bridging the gap between mental health and responsible gun ownership. His work emphasizes cultural competence, trust-building, and the power of clear, compassionate messaging to drive real change.