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About Worried About a Veteran (WAV)
WAV is an initiative that empowers loved ones to prevent Veteran gun suicide. It helps loved ones build critical time and space before a moment of crisis and has something for every step of a loved one’s journey.
Our history and legacy
WAV started as a New York State pilot program in 2022 when the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide collaborated with CALM (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means) training to help address Veteran gun suicide.
Initial funding was through the New York State Health Foundation. With additional funding from the USAA-led social impact effort Face the Fight and administrative support from the Bronx Veterans Medical Research Foundation, WAV expanded into a national initiative in 2024.
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Project planning
core team
Derek Coy currently serves as a Program Officer at the New York Health Foundation (formerly, NYSHealth) where he focuses on expanding veterans’ access to community-based services and increasing the quality of resources available to returning veterans in New York State. For more than a decade, he has served as a thought leader, convener, and advocate for improving the health of returning veterans, and is a former Marine Sergeant and veteran of the Iraq War.
Garra Lloyd-Lester is the Coordinator of Community and Coalition Initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Center of New York State (SPCNY). As Coordinator, he works with State and County partners, local governmental units, local coalitions, and other systems to build capacity to help reduce suicides across the lifespan. He also facilitates the lethal means safety workgroup as part of the Governors Challenge to Prevent Suicide among Service Members, Veterans, and their Families (SMVF). He does project management for a statewide initiative to address suicide prevention among first responder disciplines and facilitated the statewide taskforce to develop recommendations on addressing suicide prevention among rural communities in NYS.
Garra has developed content to support local suicide prevention coalitions and partner agencies in the areas of prevention, postvention and coalition development . He has 30+ years of experience in the field of social services including working with the developmentally disabled, working in the child welfare system and within the mental health system.
Stephanie Gamble, Ph.D., is Deputy Director, VA Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Gamble directs the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Behavioral Health Autopsy Program, where she leads national efforts to conduct systematic reviews of the factors and contexts surrounding Veterans’ suicides to inform VA’s suicide prevention efforts and promote the health and well-being of Veterans and their families. She currently serves as a delegate to the NY and NJ Governors’ Challenge Teams and is a member of the New York State Suicide Prevention Council.
Marianne Goodman, M.D., is a Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Associate Director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center, located at the James J. Peters VA (Bronx VA). For the past 23 years she has provided clinical care to high-risk suicidal Veterans and conducted clinical research in suicide biomarkers, novel suicide treatment development and family approaches to suicide prevention. She has been an integral member of the family website project from its inception and involved with all aspects of its creation.
Jason Skinner has a Bachelor’s of Science in Community and Human Services with a concentration in Veterans Services from the State University of New York, Empire State. He is currently the Livingston County Director of Veteran Services, National Association of Counties Veterans and Military Families Vice Chairman (NACO), member of National Association of County Veterans Service Officers (NACVSO), New York State County Service Officer Association President (NYCVSOA), and Finger Lakes Veterans Advocacy Council (FLVAC) President. Jason is Iraq war veteran who has been working with veterans and their families for over a decade. He is known for advocacy and networking to provide quality services to the local government level. Most notably his accomplishments in advocacy were a 150% increase of state revenue to local government and state-wide expansion of peer support for veterans at $100,000 per county. He is thankful for the gifted experts on this team for this tool that will make a difference in the world of suicide prevention.
Other contributing Governors Challenge team Members
Catherine Barber, MPA, is a senior researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Injury Research Center and president of CALM America, Inc (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means). She and Elaine Frank were lead writers for the original version of Worried About a Veteran. She is the founding director of Means Matter, a hallmark of which is bringing gun owners and suicide prevention groups together to collaborate on local solutions to reduce suicide. She was a founding member of the original Gun Shop Project, wrote the nation’s first suicide prevention curriculum for firearm instructors’s classes, and has helped spread these types of collaborations across the country.
Caroline Boucher, LMSW is a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) in Bronx, NY. Caroline is a licensed social worker and received her MSW from Columbia University and BA in Psychology from Georgetown University. At the VISN 2 MIRECC, Caroline works under the supervision of Dr. Marianne Goodman, serving as coordinator for multiple research studies focused on Veteran suicide prevention. Caroline joined the WAV team in 2023 to assist with project management.
Dev Crasta, Ph.D. is a Research Investigator at the Department of Veterans Affairs Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention and a Senior Instructor at the University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Psychiatry. Dev has been working with Veterans since 2012 and has worked with their families since 2017. His current work focuses on helping family members support one another through mental health challenges. He joined the WAV team to give input on effective communication skills and family resources.
Daryllee Hale is the Communications Specialist at the VA Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention (COE-SP). There, she supports the COE-SP’s initiatives through a variety of communications outlets, including social media and email marketing. Daryllee joined the WAV team to help disseminate the site via digital advertising. Previously, Daryllee worked in higher education marketing and communications, with a focus on public policy and alumni relations.
Robert Lane, PhD is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Research Scientist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center, located at the James J. Peters VA in Bronx, NY. He has provided clinical care to Veterans at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. He has also conducted clinical research regarding risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors and suicide prevention via the facilitation of the disclosure of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. He has been a member of the family website project since its inception and involved with all aspects of its creation, and helped interview family members of Veterans who have been at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in order to obtain feedback to inform the project.
Kristen Vescera, Ph.D., MPH is a combat Veteran having served overseas in Afghanistan in 2012-2013. She spent ten years enlisted in the United States Army Reserve as a Psychological Operations Staff Sergeant and Instructor. Dr. Vescera is currently working at the Department of Veterans Affairs Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention in Canandaigua, NY as the Associate Director of Education focusing on developing, disseminating, and evaluating national training and education programs aimed at preventing and reducing Veteran suicide.
The experts
- Kevin:
Kevin is a Veteran, spouse of a Veteran, therapist, and gun owner. His gives advice on how to have conversations about firearms.- Tim:
Tim is a Veteran, former military police officer, mental health community leader, and a gun owner.- Tom:
Tim is a tactical firearm instructor, providing information about storing your self-defense guns.
Production
- Writers:
Catherine Barber/ and Elaine Frank (Means Matter and CALM), Marianne Goodman, Dev Crasta, Kristen Vescera- Editors:
Lethal Means Safety Workgroup- Video production:
Modern Epic
(unless otherwise noted)- Website design:
KatHargrave.com- Consulting on video and design team selection:
Center for Practice Innovations
Communications
- Adam Ritchie Brand Direction
- Stephanie Rothney
- Emily Ratzker
- Emily Knitter
- Raphael Rosalin
- Chelsea Winfree
- William Bornmann
Contributing members
- Jason Skinner
- Derek Coy
- Robert Lane
- Emily Mitchell
- Greta Hermann
- Rachel Martin
Family interviewers
- Marianne Goodman
- Stephanie Gamble
- Robert Lane
Thanks also go to Benjamin Pomerance, Deputy Director for Program Development at the New York State Division of Veterans’ Services for guiding the entire NYS Governors Challenge Team through the development and implementation of the associated work.
About the Funder
Face the Fight, founded in 2023, is a private-sector-led initiative working to break the stigma surrounding suicide in the military community by raising awareness and fostering real, open conversations around support and hope. Face the Fight, founded by USAA, Reach Resilience and the Humana Foundation, is a collaborative effort of corporations, foundations, nonprofits, and government to raise awareness and support for Veteran suicide prevention.