About us
Being A Teen Today Isn’t Easy.
Many are navigating anxiety, stress, loneliness, and the pressure to keep it all together—often without feeling seen or understood.
That’s why we create safe, supportive spaces where young people find connection, belonging, and hope, while building lifelong skills for resilience and emotional wellness.
Our approach
Programs That Change Lives.
Through engaging, meaningful experiences, our programs bring teens together to build connections, strengthen resilience, and gain practical tools to face life’s challenges.
The FORT At School
Brambleton Middle School Register: Free The FORT At School is a free mental wellness workshop series similar to…
Experience The FORT For Professionals
Experience The FORT: For Professionals Who Support Youth. Oatlands Historic House and Gardens Register: Free 1:00–3:00 pm (Optional…
RBF at Loudoun Recovery Fest 2026
RBF will be hosting a table at the 2026 Loudoun Recovery Fest to help celebrate recovery and show…
By the numbers
Real Connection. Lasting Impact.
Our impact reflects what matters most: teens feeling less alone, more understood, and better equipped with real tools to navigate life.
91%
teens
feel more connected to peers and adults.
500+
program participants
served in 2025.
90%
teens
report improved ability to communicate their feelings.
98%
learned
a new skill to use when feeling stressed, anxious or sad.
Give hope
Connection Starts With Community.
The need for teen connection is growing—and we can’t meet it alone. Your support helps reach teens early, before isolation deepens, creating consistent spaces where connection can grow and belonging can take root. Together, we can build a community where every teen feels seen, supported, and never alone.
Thank You To Our Major Funders.
Follow Us.
Join us at The FORT where teens will have a chance to embrace nature, mindfulness, and creativity in two resilience-building workshops. Through these hands-on experiences, your teen will identify and explore their strengths through musical rhythms, painting and sharing.Here is what’s waiting for you:
🎨 Expressive Arts – The Rhythms of Strength
🍃 Nature – Paint Your Strength Pumpkin
🔗 Register today at: ryanbartelfoundation.org/fort
Grab your spot!
🗓 Sept 27th from 2:00 – 5:00pm
📍Crossroads United Methodist, Ashburn, VA
👉For Ages 12 – 18
🎟️ FREE
#RyanBartelFoundation #TeenMentalHealth #CreativeExpression
On Sept 19th we honored Suicide Awareness month by participating in the Loudoun Out of the Darkness Walk organized by the @afspncac (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention). It was an amazing and touching turn out, partly highlighting the high number of families and friends who have lost a loved one, but also how this community showed up in force to support each other, or to search for resources. Hats off to our FORT Ambassadors who held their own, acting as spokespersons to represent Ryan Bartel Foundation. Proud of their efforts.
#suicideprevention #AFSP #youarenotalone #belongingandresilience
It takes a village to protect our youth, and Patty & Wayne Hess have been at the heart of ours from the very first moment ❤️. They stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our mission to prevent youth suicide and support teen mental health. We value their friendship and partnership more than words can express.
Thank you, Patty & Wayne, for being cornerstones of a caring community—one that prioritizes safe spaces and early support before a crisis occurs. Thank you for helping us transform teen lives through belonging, connection, and hope.
Find out more about the 2026 Notes of Hope Gala on October 10th: www.ryanbartelfoundation.org/notes-of-hope
#SuicidePrevention #TeenMentalHealth #SafeSpaces #CommunityPillars #RyanBartelFoundation
Connection, one tile at a time. 🀄
Around a mahjong table, we gather. We talk. We laugh. We belong.
That spirit of connection is what Tiles for Hope is all about.
Join us for a day of mahjong benefiting the RYAN BARTEL FOUNDATION INC and help create more places where teens can experience that same sense of belonging.
Mahj for a Cause. 💚💛
Join the table:
https://tinyurl.com/4ce9afrz
#RyanBartelFoundation #Mahjong #Fundraising #SupportYouth #YouthMentalHealth
