I have quite a few friends that are atheist, but here is what I say to them.

I think I would be depressed if I totally ruled out any possibility of something beyond the limited material experience that we have before death. Nothing, beyond this short life, is also in the rehlm of possibility even though it is a depressing thought.

I don't think religion is an exact science. Even what's considered scientific understanding, itself, changes. It's not fixed for all time. New evidence can change what, in the past, has been thought of as scientific fact. Beyond scientific evidence is anyone's guess. There is room for creative thinking.

The church I grew up in doesn't really have an unquestioned dogma. Some people, including a few atheists, go to churches, like the one I grew up in, as it's just another community center. I don't attend a church now, but I do visit churches for community events as well as a lot of speculative discussions.

There is a lot of momentum in churches as community gathering spaces. That alone can be a pragmatic reason that some atheists can value regardless of whether there is a spiritual dimension to life, or not.