Kellie O’Dare, Ph.D.
Executive Director / Founder
Dr. Kellie O’Dare is a dedicated researcher, educator, and advocate with expertise in first responder health and wellness, health policy, and organizational resilience. As the Founder and Director of the 2nd Alarm Project and Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management with the Institute of Public Health at Florida A&M University, Dr. O’Dare has led innovative initiatives to support the mental health and resilience of first responders and their families. With a Ph.D. in Social Work and a passion for community-driven solutions, her work bridges academic research and practical applications, fostering transformative changes in behavioral health access and support systems. She has significant experience conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and evaluating large-scale quantitative, geospatial, and mixed-method research projects in both academic and applied settings. Dr. O’Dare’s impactful efforts have garnered $8 million in external funding and contributed to significant advancements in public health and social work practice.
Dr. O’Dare has meaningful personal linkages to the first responder community. She is the niece of Shawn T. O’Dare, firefighter/paramedic killed in the Line of Duty in Miami-Dade County, and the spouse of a current Florida professional firefighter/paramedic.
Brandy Carlson-Moore, MSW
Deputy Director
Brandy is the Deputy Director of the 2nd Alarm Project. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from Florida State University with a specific focus in policy, leadership and administration. Brandy’s work at 2nd Alarm Project includes training first responders on developing Behavioral Health Access Programs (BHAPs) and leadership in mental wellness for first responders. She was instrumental in the creation of the BHAP Toolkit which serves as the foundational resource for 2nd Alarm Project’s BHAP capacity building and technical assistance efforts with first responder departments. She also provides direct supervision and oversight to first responders, clinicians, and other BHAP subject matter experts on the team. After over 23 years in working to increase individual safety, well-being, and organizational health, she has a deep and diverse skillset in working with leadership teams, first responders, clinicians, and direct social service providers.
Prior to working at the 2nd Alarm Project, Brandy served as President of Strategic Empowerment Consulting working with organizations in various capacities including: grant writing, strategic planning, leadership development, curriculum development, and mitigating burnout in the workplace. Brandy has served on nine statewide advisory committees and conducted over 500 trainings on a wide variety of topics such as Board Governance, Critical Incident Leadership and Support, Crisis and Disaster Management, Mental Health Awareness, and Strategic Planning. Previously, in her work to end domestic violence, she and her team trained hundreds of first responders on handling best practices in handling domestic violence crimes. Her professional roles have included direct service work, middle management, and executive leadership. Brandy is married to her best friend Dan who is a Firefighter Engineer at the Tallahassee Fire Department. She is a mom to two amazing little ones that keep her learning and growing daily.
Lt. Jeff Orrange
Director of Training and Capacity Building
Jeff Orrange is in his 27th year as a fire fighter, 19 of which have been served with the Orlando Fire Department. He is currently a Lieutenant Paramedic on an Engine Company and previously Jeff served for 2-1/2 years as a Lieutenant in the Training Division. Jeff is a husband, father and friend. Armed with passion, empathy, a great support system and a willingness to help those who mean the most to him, Jeff Orrange has co-founded the Orlando Firefighters Peer Support Team. Jeff is a founding member of the Orlando Firefighters Peer Support team. His team has been deployed following the Pulse tragedy, Las Vegas Shooting, the Parkland shooting, the Surfside Condo collapse and many others. Jeff has been promoting mental wellness through grassroots efforts for many years. He believes that making it through this career mentally as well as physically is paramount. Jeff currently has the honor of serving as the State-Wide Peer Coordinator for the Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative (FFSHC). As Peer Coordinator, he is responsible for coordinating with industry leaders, and related agencies to facilitate professional standards, diversified training opportunities, deployments, and other related actives.
Capt. Mike Bellamy
Director of Communications and Marketing
Mike Bellamy is a Jacksonville native now living and working in Tallahassee, FL as a Fire Captain for the Tallahassee Fire Department where he’s spent the last 25 years. Mike served many years as the District Vice President in the Florida Panhandle for the Florida Professional Firefighters. Mike continues to serve as a Service Representative for the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). In addition to serving as a peer team member in Tallahassee, Mike has vast experience working in politics, labor relations, and communications. His experience in communications includes television, social and traditional media, strategic campaigns, and podcasting. Mike’s work has influenced firefighter legislation, improved public safety and strengthened working conditions for firefighters. Mike also founded Ignite Strategies Group, a communications and creative consulting firm. Mike loves playing music, traveling and being outdoors spending time with family.
Michelle Lawrence, LMHC, MCAP
Lead Clinician/Behavioral Health Navigator
Michelle is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), a Master’s Level Certified Addiction Professional (MCAP), and a qualified supervisor for RMHCIs. She also serves as the lead clinician for 2nd Alarm Project. Michelle is one of just a few endorsed Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) providers in the state. She has focused her clinical efforts on treating responders struggling with compound issues, including PTSD, trauma, anxiety, substance use, and other mood disturbances. She has significant experience providing clinical oversight to peer support teams, delivers mental health awareness in service and peer support trainings, and has served on many critical incident/clinician response team deployments. Michelle is passionate about serving our first responders and provides high-quality, evidence-based trauma treatment to our community members in need.
Steve Suarez, MS, NRP
Struggle Well Program Manager
Steve Suarez is in his 22nd year as a Paramedic, serving the majority of that time at Leon County EMS. Throughout his time with Leon, Steve served in a number of roles including Shift Captain, Training Captain, and Accreditation Manager. He was a member of the local CISM team, participating in several disaster deployments and in the response to local Mass Casualty and Critical Incidents. In 2010, he led the effort to make Leon County EMS the first ever, fully accredited, municipal EMS agency in Florida. He has over 15 years of experience in adult instruction through his work as a BLS, ACLS, and PALS instructor, among other courses. While he has extensive experience in policy development and program implementation, one of Steve’s true passions continues to be direct patient care. He is board certified in both Adult Critical Care Transport and Neonatal-Pediatric Critical Care Transport and has authored published research on advanced prehospital resuscitation. Steve is currently the Chief Paramedic/EMS Director for Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare and still works one or two shifts a month with Survival Flight out of their Tallahassee base.
A Miami native, Steve is grateful to call North Florida home and enjoys spending time with friends and family during his off time. Steve recognizes the role that good self-care and healthy support systems play in being able to work effectively as a First Responder. In partnership with the Boulder Crest Foundation, Steve is coordinating 2AP’s offering of regional Struggle Well courses. Struggle Well training teaches participants how to integrate healthy principles into their lives and is based on the science of Posttraumatic Growth.
Kristen Hightower
Administrative Manager
Kristen was born and raised in Tallahassee. After moving and living in many places, she has returned to her hometown with her husband and two young daughters. With over 12 years’ experience as a military spouse, she understands firsthand the demands and unique lifestyles of military families. She is a licensed RN, BSN and enjoys contributing to the mission of 2nd Alarm Project.
Leah Atwell, MPH
Evaluation Coordinator
Leah holds a Master of Public Health from Florida State University. She has over a decade of experience working in public health mainly working in surveillance and evaluation. Prior to working at the 2nd Alarm Project, she worked in a variety of positions at the Florida Department of Health and the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Lance Butler
Peer Support Team Coordinator
Lance is an Engineer/Paramedic with the Tallahassee Fire Department (TFD) and the He has been with TFD since January 2015, and has been in the fire service since 2007. He is also a member of the Tallahassee Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Response team. Lance has been the leader of TFD’s Peer Support team since its inception in September of 2019 and is now working with the 2nd Alarm Project to bring awareness of mental health issues and resiliency among first responders to TFD as well as surrounding first responder agencies in Florida. He also serves as the NW Regional Coordinator for the FL Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative Statewide Peer Team. Lance has served on several significant statewide Peer Team deployments, including responding to the NAS Pensacola shooting, Bay County Wildfires, Hurricane Ian, as well as multiple local agency critical incident response efforts.
Lauren Pierce, PhD, MPH
Program Evaluator and Methodologist
Dr. Lauren Pierce is a private consultant specializing in public health surveillance, evaluation, data collection, analysis and visualization. Dr. Pierce holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Florida State University where she also earned her Master in Public Health (MPH) and Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences and Anthropology. In her previous role at the Florida Department of Health, Dr. Pierce helped design and implement large scale program evaluation and data collection projects to support tobacco-use prevention and control, cancer prevention and chronic disease. She also managed the Department’s population-level data collection for chronic disease and tobacco control.
Donna Brown
Law Enforcement Training Coordinator
Donna graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor of science degree in Criminology. She was a police officer with the Tallahassee Police Department retiring after twenty-six years of service. Ten of those years were spent as the Detective Sergeant overseeing the department’s Homicide Unit. Donna is an award-winning author of the Behind and Beyond the Badge series that focuses on humanizing the badge and mental health of all first responders.
During her career at TPD, Donna was also a Field Training Officer, a Field Training Sergeant, a State of Florida certified law enforcement instructor, and worked in the department’s Training Unit. Donna enjoys helping other law enforcement agencies create and expand their wellness initiatives and providing training to assist in those endeavors.
Crystal Pruitt
Family Support Coordinator
Crystal Pruitt, 2nd Alarm Project’s Family Support Coordinator, is a firefighter wife and mother/bonus mom to 5 kids, 4 boys and 1 girl. She is currently studying early childhood education and pursuing a psychology degree. She is a member of the Monticello Volunteer Fire Department and has been for the last 2 years. Crystal has been passionate about the 2nd Alarm Project since her husband deployed to Surfside and 2AP helped her family after that tragedy. Crystal’s work with 2nd Alarm Project focuses on family and extended family of first responders and making sure they are all getting the help and support they need. Crystal is excited about providing support for first responder families and building connections throughout first responder agencies.
Marchelle Dunston-Lawrence
Administrative Assistant
Marchelle has over 35 years of experience in administrative and customer service in corporate, commercial and non-profit organizations providing high-level administrative support to members in their daily operations and aiding as needed. She is skilled at coordinating and managing multiple projects simultaneously. Marchelle is the Administrative Assistant for the Institute of Public Health and 2nd Alarm Project. She works closely with the Associate Dean/Director in the Institute of Public Health and the, Executive Director/PI and Director of the 2nd Alarm Team on projects and grants providing administrative assistance. She is the primary contact for the Institute of Public Health and provides support to 13 faculty members and students in the MPH and DrPH programs. Marchelle also provides support to the 2nd Alarm team providing travel for the team, processing the hiring of personnel contracts and assisting with purchasing. Marchelle enjoys event planning and making gift baskets for any occasion. She is also a Paparazzi Jewelry Consultant in her spare time and enjoys spending time with her family.
Courtney Williams, LCSW
Courtney is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a graduate of Saint Leo University. As a native of Madison County, she has provided trauma-informed care to individuals, families, and groups throughout North Florida. Her experience spans various mental health settings, including outpatient, inpatient, and residential treatment, as well as the judicial system and community-based mental health organizations. Passionate about treating those who have experienced stressful or traumatic events, Courtney frequently utilizes specialized treatment modalities such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in her clinical work with first responders.
Through her involvement with the 2nd Alarm Project, Courtney has collaborated with various first responder agencies within her community, provided clinical supervision and training to peer support teams, and served on several critical incident/clinician response deployments in the region. She strives to bridge the gap between first responders and essential resources, ultimately promoting resilience and mental wellness among the first responder population.
Kevin Briley
Struggle Well Trainer
Kevin has worked as a paramedic in Tallahassee for over 15 years. He is currently a Captain assigned to field operations with Leon County EMS. He is also an adjunct faculty member with Tallahassee Community College’s EMS programs. Kevin believes in the importance of good self-care and strong support network in order to have a successful career as a first responder. Originally from South Florida, Kevin, relocated to Tallahassee for college when he started working in EMS. In his time away from work, Kevin enjoys, traveling, camping, and spending time with his wife and children.
Timothy Capps
Outreach Coordinator
Timothy started his fire service career as a volunteer firefighter with the South Venice Volunteer Fire Department. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a firefighter in 1996 and did tours at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Ali Al Jabar Air Base in Kuwait and Lajes Field in the Azores Islands. For the past 22 years, he has been employed by the Orlando Fire Department. Currently, he is the Lieutenant on E16 serving the Lake Nona Area of Orlando. For the past two years, he has been Coordinator of the Orlando Firefighters Peer Support Team. I have been on the Peer Support Team since its inception in 2013.
Joseph McCluan
Training and Events Coordinator
Joseph is a retired District Chief with a career spanning over three decades in fire and emergency services. He began his journey as a firefighter paramedic with the Ocoee Fire Department and then moved to Seminole County Fire Department, dedicating over 8 years to serving and protecting those communities.
In 1996, he transitioned to the Orlando Fire Department. Over the course of 26 years with OFD, he held various roles, working his way through the ranks to District Chief. Notably, he played a pivotal role as a founding member of the Orlando Fire Department’s peer support team, recognizing the importance of mental health and well-being among firefighters and first responders.
He initially served as a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team member for both Seminole County and Orlando Fire Departments, providing crucial support during challenging incidents and ensuring the welfare of his fellow firefighters. Today, retired from active service, he continues to be a member of the Orlando Fire Department’s Peer Support Team, offering his knowledge and experience to support the next generation of first responders.
Dewey H Riou
Law Enforcement Capacity Building Coordinator
Dewey Riou is a retired Police Lieutenant. He served over 26 years at Tallahassee (Fl) Police Department. Dewey has over 25 years experience in peer support and critical incident stress management. He’s been an instructor for 32 years in areas including crisis intervention, defensive tactics, and emergency management. Dewey is a Certified Public Manager (CPM) and served as an instructor in the Florida CPM program at Florida State University. Dewey has a master’s degree in Administration from Barry University. He is President and CEO of DH Riou Communications, a professional consulting and training company.
Heather Bruce
Outreach Coordinator
Heather has been in Law Enforcement for 17 years. She has been through several mental health trainings. She worked with Michelle, 2nd Alarm Clinician District 1, for over a year. She is currently implementing a peer support program at her Agency, Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office.
Evelyn Arnold
Struggle Well Trainer
Engineer/Paramedic with a background in mental health counseling. Working diligently to promote mental health and wellness education and reduce mental health stigma for first responders.
Dee Knight
Outreach Coordinator
Dee was born and raised in NWFL and has been involved with EMS since 2011. She is currently a paramedic in Escambia County and Assistant Team Leader for her local Peer Support Team. Dee learned about the 2nd Alarm Project after 2AP sent a team to assist the crews that were involved with the NAS Shooting. She was immediately thankful that a team of Peer Supporters existed and jumped at the opportunity to join her local team, when it was started in 2020. She is passionate about the mental health and well being of her brother and sister first responders and is grateful for the opportunity to join the 2AP team as the NWFL Outreach Coordinator! On her days off, she can be found spending time with her husband and kids, local Jeep group, or in her garden.
Emily Hall
Behavioral Health Navigation Coordinator
Emily Hall is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker practicing in Tallahassee, FL. Her areas of expertise include trauma, grief/loss and first responder stress management. Emily is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, which is a highly effective therapy that treats trauma. Emily is also a member of the Florida Crisis Response Team, which responds to mass casualty events and natural disasters. Throughout her career, she has worked with those who have experienced highly traumatic events as well as suffered immense loss. Emily has a passion to help individuals process their trauma to bring about healing in their lives.
Scott Flitcraft
Outreach Coordinator
Scott retired from the Panama City (FL) Fire Department (PCFD) in March of 2024 after over forty years in the Fire Service. He was hired at PCFD in November of 1983 and was a volunteer firefighter for a year plus prior to that. At PCFD, Scott held the positions of Firefighter/ EMT, Engineer/ EMT, Lieutenant/EMT, Station Captain, Battalion Chief, and was promoted to the Division Chief of Training position in October of 2015, a position he held until his retirement. Scott is a Chief Instructor in High Angle/ Confined Space Rescue and served as trainer for the Department’s Technical Rescue Team since its inception in 1998. Scott also served as Team Co-Manager of PCFD’s Technical Rescue Team (TRT) 101, which was created in 2005 as part of the State of Florida’s Urban Search & Rescue Teams. He served on PCFD’s Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team and authored the Department’s policy on CISM/ Mental Wellness initially and then added the Peer Support component when their Team was created. Scott was also an adjunct faculty member at Gulf Coast State College for fifteen years, instructing in the Fire Standards and Emergency Medical Responder Programs. Scott holds an Associate’s Degree in Fire Science, a Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Safety and Health, and a Fire Officer II and Fire Instructor III certification among many others. Scott enjoys kayaking, paddleboarding, golf, and hiking with his beautiful wife Lisa. In retirement, he especially is looking forward to spending more time with his family and giving back to the First Responder community.
Brandon Connors
Struggle Well Trainer
Brandon Connors is originally from Butte, Montana, and has lived all over the world due to his father’s 25-year service in the Air Force. Following in his father’s footsteps, Brandon served seven years in the Air Force himself. A proud father of four daughters (ages 13, 9, 5, and 3.5), he has dedicated over nine years to the Panama City Fire Department, where he works as a Driver/Engineer. Brandon is also pursuing a Master’s degree in Licensed Mental Health Counseling (LMHC) from Troy University.
McKenzie Teems
Administrative Coordinator
Mckenzie was born in Tallahassee to a first responder family. With her Father, grandfather, uncles, and cousins working in the fire service across the state of Florida, she understands some of the sacrifices it takes to serve the community. During her time with the 2nd Alarm Project, she is excited to play a role in helping those who give so much for others.
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