JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. — Suicide continues to be one of the leading causes of death in Indiana.
And the ripple effect of that sudden, devastating loss takes a tremendous toll on families left behind.
In fact, in their grief, suicide loss survivors are at much greater risk of suicide themselves.
But a team of volunteers in Johnson County is bringing hope to those Hoosiers with immediate, impactful support.
Watching Crystal Neil, Chelcee Hill and Shelley Hughes smile and share memories while looking at family photos, you'd never know they became friends by circumstance.
Their laughter and their connection is natural. But these women also share heartbreaking bond.
They're connected by the loss of a loved one who died by suicide.
"He would light up any room you'd walk into," Hill said of her stepbrother, Steve.
"She lived more in 18 1/2 years than most people will live in 100," added Neil, talking about her daughter, Taylor.
"Ryan was that stereotypical male, that kept it all in, and there was no ... no sign of depression," Hughes said of her son. "Your world stops. Everything, everything now in my life is really kind of defined by before that call and after that call."
"That completely just ... changed everything," Hill said.
"It was a nuclear bomb in our family," Neil said.
But that incredible pain now has meaningful purpose, helping to shine a light in the darkness for other families in crisis.
They're part of a team called ATLAS, which stands for Assisting Through Loss After Suicide. It's a program through Upstream Prevention, a nonprofit in Johnson County.
ATLAS has 15 trained volunteers who respond to a scene with the coroner to a suicide.
Johnson County is the first in central Indiana to have an on-scene loss team.
Boone and Hendricks counties reach out to families by mail or phone days or weeks after a death has occurred. Marion, Hamilton and Bartholomew counties are currently developing loss teams.
"As the coroner, I put everything on the table that a family might need following the loss of a loved one due to suicide," Johnson County Coroner Michael Pruitt said, "and feel like that's a huge part of our job."
So when he gets the call for a suicide, so does ATLAS.
Two team members are dispatched, right alongside first responders.
"And you can see the immediate relief on their face because we're there for the survivors," Neil said.
While emergency crews focus on the death investigation, ATLAS focuses on the family.
"You tell them that you've lost an immediate family member in this way, and then, they just, that connection is incredibly powerful," Hughes said.
"To be able to speak up and say, 'I've been exactly where you are. You're not alone.' It gives you that instant connection, and people realize like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm not alone in this,'" Hill added.
"Having some time to talk to the ATLAS team, they start getting more comfortable," Pruitt said. "They start opening up, and that's what this team wants them to do so they can create that conversation on helping them."
The volunteers not only provide support and comfort, but they also bring a backpack full of resources: books, activities for children, counseling connections, housing help if the suicide happened at home.
"And then, we follow up by mail every three months for the next two years," Hill said.
Their work is needed more than ever.
In Johnson County, according to numbers shared by the coroner's office, 27 people died by suicide in 2023.
That's a 42% increase from 2022.
Just since January, the county's eight suicide deaths are already outpacing last year. Plus, in their grief, loss survivors are at greater risk of suicide themselves.
"That can also repeat itself within the family just because of that one event," Pruitt said. "So part of ATLAS being involved is to prevent that."
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For the volunteers, helping is also healing.
"It gives a little bit of a power of purpose to your pain when you realize that possibly you can make this burden just a little less difficult," Hughes said.
"If you plant a seed," Hill added, "that will one day help grow flowers around that hole that's been left. That's my one hope."
This hope is for people whose world, just like theirs, was shattered by loss.
ATLAS continues to expand and welcomes volunteers for training. Learn more about ATLAS initiatives here.
Upstream Prevention also has support groups for people who've lost loved ones to suicide, along with many suicide prevention resources.