The Story of Atlas
Atlas of Action is named after our founder’s best friend, Sharon Atlas— not because of a prestigious achievement, but because she is a role model of resilience and an inspiration to all she meets.
Sharon was born in Brooklyn, New York, into a family with its fair share of dysfunction. Her father struggled with drug addiction, while her mother lived largely in denial of what was happening around them. Sharon grew up carrying stress and trauma that she did not yet have the words or tools to understand. As an adult, she eventually found her way into treatment for an eating disorder. She was ready to heal, but quickly learned how difficult healing can be when the systems designed to support us are not built around the complexity of our lives. Insurance companies repeatedly ended her treatment prematurely, sending her in and out of care before she had the opportunity to build a stable foundation for recovery. Around the same time she began treatment for co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions, Sharon was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suddenly, she was navigating two worlds of illness and recovery at once. She endured numerous rounds of chemotherapy while simultaneously working to care for her mental health and find a way forward in recovery. She also came face-to-face with the realities of the healthcare system at some of the most vulnerable moments of her life. There were barriers, gaps, and obstacles at nearly every turn. Getting the care she needed was far more difficult than it should have been for anyone.
But she kept going.
Not because she carried everything alone, but because along the way, she found people. She built relationships. She found community. And she learned that resilience is not simply the ability to bear more weight. Sometimes resilience is knowing when to reach for someone else's hand—and allowing them to reach for yours. Throughout her life, Sharon has tried to offer that hand to others. She has always been someone who thinks deeply about the people around her, fiercely supports the people she loves, and wants others to find the healing and wellbeing they deserve. Her own experiences brought her into the recovery community, where she found not only support for herself, but also a place where she could support others. That community has become one of the most meaningful parts of her life.
In Sharon’s words…
“There were times when treatment ended before I felt ready, not because the underlying problems had been resolved, but because insurance coverage had reached its limit. That contrast was difficult to reconcile. I felt robbed twice: first by cancer, which took away opportunities and time I should have been able to spend focusing on my mental health recovery , and then by an insurance system that made accessing continued mental-health treatment uncertain. The experience changed the way I understood healthcare… I want to use what I have experienced to help other people avoid some of the barriers I encountered… I cannot change what happened during my own treatment journey. But I can use my experience to speak about the importance of access, continuity, and the opportunity to receive the treatment someone actually needs. For me, that is part of what it means to reclaim my last name Atlas. I have carried a lot throughout my life. I want the name to represent not only what I have survived, but what I can carry forward and use to help someone else.”
Atlas of Action carries Sharon's name as a reminder of what she had to learn: we are not meant to carry the weight of the world alone.
Each of us carries our own history, our own struggles, our own hopes, and our own unfinished stories. But when we come together, we can help carry one another. We can make room for healing. We can transform suffering into connection and adversity into meaning.
