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 meet-ups - bi-weekly virtual meetings to combat social isolation caused by The pandemic. Studies show that connectedness is an important protective factor for suicide, which we provide through games, sharing of challenges, tips and tools on coping mechanisms that we map back to our sources of strength training. "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

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.

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. To date The fort has served over 300 unduplicated teenagers. Data from our own surveys show that after attendance, 60% teenagers felt less anxious and more hopeful, 81% learnt at least one new skill to deal with anxiety, stress or sadness and 75% reported feeling more connected to other teenagers. The fort also provides adult workshops and support groups focused on providing practical hands-on advice, helping families build resilience together.

Heart of humanity (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. Students can't apply for it themselves but have to be nominated by a peer or adult within their school as witnesses to their acts of kindness, support and acceptance of other students, especially those who are alone or may be struggling emotionally.