"Chase Christian Bjork was a beautiful soul afflicted with mental illness. His illness lay dormant – unidentified and undiagnosed – for too long. In January 2020, Chase shocked everyone when he took his own life.

"Chase’s family, like so many in Massachusetts and across the country, has been immeasurably impacted by his mental health disorders and resulting suicide. Chase was noticeably anxious when he was 14. His symptoms progressed by the time he was 16. He and his family sought help for his mental illness for years, but he did not find the right treatment early enough in his illness to save his mind and life.

"Chase and his family experienced first-hand many breaks in the healthcare (specifically behavioral healthcare) system in the United States. One of the most tragic breaks is that Chase’s condition went undiagnosed for more than a year. Identifying mental illness in our own children is something every parent wants to be equipped to do, and yet none of us are educated on how to actually do it. Parents aren’t even acquainted with the basics of mental illness, and neither are our children. 

"The Chase Bjork Foundation was created to address this precise issue. We promote awareness and education about adolescent mental illness pre-crisis to adolescents, their parents, peers, coaches and educators."

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-The Chase Bjork Foundation