The Ryan Bartel Foundation

Fortitude: fortitude is our own, proprietary online series of community programs in response to covid-19, focused on creating connection, positivity and resilience and consists of: "fortitude teen hangout - a four-week series of one hour, in person support groups guided by a qualified mental health professional. Teens connect and share their thoughts on topics that matter to them, reducing feelings of isolation and helping them realize they are not alone. "fortitude for parents - a monthly panel of mental health professionals who address and answer questions and provide support on topics relevant to parenting teenagers during this difficult time. "fortitude teen workshops - a unique, online series of workshops starting in jan 2021, that draw on evidence-led best practices in mindfulness, positive psychology, and neuroscience. Specifically targeting teenagers struggling with anxiety, loneliness, and sadness, our goals are to promote connection and a positive sense of identity, self-worth, and well-being in order to not just ward off suicidal thoughts and risk, but to teach teenagers essential life skills and habits that can support a life-time of positive mental health

Heart of humanity award (f/k/a acceptance of others award): since 2015, The organization has offered a scholarship award named The heart of humanity (f/k/a acceptance of others award), to graduating seniors who show strength of character in their treatment of other students, especially those who are struggling emotionally. The heart of humanity award features several unique features, including not being able to apply for The award but only being nominated by a peer and requiring a witness that supports The nomination. While this makes receiving The award more difficult to attain, these unique factors also add to The integrity of The award. Since its inception, The program has awarded 24 scholarships representing 27,000 in value. In 2023, The organization received a 100,000 donation, restricted for use only for The scholarships supporting this award to help sustain it into The future

The fort: in 2018 The organization launched "The fort", a free community program that provides a place for teenagers to connect outside of school, feel accepted and experience workshops that puts many of The sos concepts into practice, giving them direct tools for dealing with The pressures and stressors of life. Workshops are provided by caring adults qualified in specific areas of expertise, most of whom have received sos training as we intentionally insert The sos messaging into The curriculum. Workshop examples include meditation, yoga, experiences with certified therapy animals such as dogs and horses, expressive arts through painting, music, drama and more. "The fort has been serving approximately 180 attendees each year with a 55% retention rate. We saw The average retention rate increase in The last four months of The year to 80% and with qualitative outcomes rising where 78% of teens felt more connected to peers and adults and 75% learned a new coping skill to use during times of stress and sadness, two key protective factors against suicide. Our goal is to deliver a deeper impact on those we serve, which is what we are seeing through repeated attendance at The fort. With The launch of a new facilitator training program towards The end of The year for all existing and new fort facilitators, we expect those outcomes to increase even more. Therefore, our focus in 2024 is to expand The fort to reach more underserved and at risk youth and increase our impact on those in need of mental health support, making The fort our flagship program in The future."

Sources of strength: The organization actively partners with The loudoun county public schools, va in supporting The "we're all human/sources of strength", a tier one mental health initiative inside our public middle and high schools. This peer-to-peer initiative is focused on preventing youth suicide through an 'upstream' approach where students connect with each other and adult advisors and build resilience by participating in an evidence-led, suicide prevention program called sources of strength (sos). A small group of 20-60 students along with a smaller group of adult advisors, are trained each year who become The team that leads campaigns and initiatives inside their school to influence The rest of The school population. After their initial training, students gather bi-weekly or monthly with their adult advisers to connect, play games that have meaningful messages and stimulates conversation on things that matter to them that may cause stress, anxiety, sadness or depression and how to overcome them with The help of 'strengths' that they have identified during their training. With The support of The adult advisers, these students are empowered to tap into resources that help build their own coping skills and resiliency and from there, through social networking, they spread messages of hope, help, connection and strength to their own peers by actively campaigning about these solutions throughout their respective school communities. The goal of these campaigns is to have The rest of The school population engage in an activity that allows them each to identify strengths and support resources in their own life. By having students use their own faces and voices to influence their own friends and social groups, The impact is far more effective than other types of campaigns in positively changing school and community cultures. Evidence-led data provided by sources of strength shows that The result is an increase in help seeking behaviors, The break-down of codes of silence when someone is struggling and positive perceptions of adult support, that together, reduces The number of students in distress. Community training in sources of strength: sources of strength data indicates The program requires a three year start up to become effective across 80% of The school population. The Foundation wants to assist in bringing change by also providing free "community sources of strength training" in order to have wider and faster reach across a larger population in The community and also impact The school population more quickly. These trainings include home schoolers, private schools, athletic groups, scout troops, summer camps and various youth groups, including those who come to The fort, along with respective groups of adults such as parents and others who interact with youth, to spread The program to those who may either never be exposed to it or to those that may not typically be involved in The training through their school. Once trained, these groups can in turn influence their own social groups and for those that have The program in their school, they can more easily relate to The campaigns and even get involved in their school's efforts of implementation.