About Us

The ATLAS Team consists of passionate volunteers who provide support, a connection to resources, and an installation of hope to those experiencing the (often) unexpected death of a loved one by suicide. Volunteer teams are typically comprised of 2-3 individuals, including someone who has lost a loved one to suicide (a Loss Survivor) paired with a mental health professional, a member of the faith community, or trained volunteer. ATLAS provides the immediate connection and hope to individuals, connecting them with someone who can honestly say, "I've been where you are. I lost a loved one to suicide, and I can help you navigate through this." Having someone next to them who can talk about a loss to suicide helps to promote healing, connection, and can decrease the lag time between loss and outreach for support.

Between 2015-2020, Johnson County lost 128 individuals to suicide (avg. of 25/year). Research suggests 135 individuals are exposed to suicide for each death, with an average of 6 individuals categorized as "suicide bereaved" where the loss has a long-lasting impact on their lives. For Johnson County, this could mean suicide exposure to over 17,000, with 768 suicide bereaved since 2015. This is too many of our neighbors dying by suicide, and experiencing the devastating loss of losing a loved one. While ATLAS can't make the grief go away, and won't reduce all suicides, we can provide support and a community to let others know they are not alone.

Do you know someone who lost a loved one to suicide and is in need of connection and resources?

ATLAS has launched our delayed response protocol - we'd be happy to reach out to individuals who lost a loved one to suicide and help connect them to resources, both those from ATLAS and from the surrounding area. Fill out this form, and someone will be in touch!

We recently sat down for a lengthy Q&A with our Coroner's Office. You can catch the full video here, but we'll be adding it in shorter sections below if you want to skip around!