Doctor on a mission

Founded by Community Foundation donor, Dr. Mark Holzberg, and Dr. Adam Leaderman, Project HEAL aids the move from hospital to housing for those experiencing homelessness

Dermatologist Dr. Mark Holzberg’s commitment to helping Atlanta’s homeless population is more than skin deep.

When Holzberg learned in 2018 that local medical clinics for homeless individuals didn’t offer dermatological services, he started the Volunteer Dermatology Clinic for the Homeless at the Gateway Center Mercy Care Clinic.

Today, more than a half dozen dermatologists continue to volunteer their time to meet a pressing need at the downtown Atlanta clinic.

Two years after he began volunteering, he realized the needs were great, and he wanted to do more. With the help of a friend, Dr. Adam Leaderman, he launched Project HEAL (Homeless Empowerment through Accessible Living), a program to help homeless individuals facing hospital discharge land in a warm bed and shelter rather than heading back to the street.

Project HEAL aligns seamlessly with Atlanta’s “housing first” philosophy. That means neighbors are best served by getting stable housing, which makes support programs and services much more effective and sustainable. With stable housing secured, partnerships such as Project HEAL can more readily help people.

Funded in part by the Medical and Mental Health Supportive Care Fund — a donor-advised fund with the Community Foundation — Project HEAL features two key elements:

• The Hospital Housing Navigator program, which employs a full-time Navigator who works with Atlanta area shelters and educates Atlanta-area hospital social workers and care coordination teams on how to identify available beds and housing in real time for their discharged patients.

• Medical and mental health on-site supportive care for people with chronic, complex health needs who have been homeless before. This effort is helping to reduce repeated hospital stays and emergency department visits.

Unprecedented collaboration

National research has shown that hospitalizations of homeless individuals can decrease by 40% when proactive programming such as Project HEAL is in place, Holzberg said.

And he is especially heartened to see Atlanta’s hospitals joining forces to support Project Heal.

“Historically, it’s been really hard for the City of Atlanta and these five competing hospitals — Grady, Emory, Piedmont, Northside and Wellstar — to get together in the same platform and try to do some good together,” Holzberg said. “Fortunately, these hospitals recognize the potential cost savings and know that housing individuals with ongoing support and care who experience homelessness will improve their social determinants of health. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Indeed, Project HEAL is an example of how Atlanta is coming together to provide sustainable and compassionate solutions to the homelessness and affordable housing crisis as the city strives to reach a goal of 20,000 new or renovated housing units by 2026 (5,000 of which are being supported by the Community Foundation).

Health-care organizations, government officials, philanthropy and social service agencies are all working to collaborate to address this challenge — requiring new ways of coordination and new ways of thinking.

Case in point: Several of the new affordable housing communities under construction include dedicated Project HEAL units. There, individuals who are recuperating or have chronic conditions will receive a range of wraparound medical and mental health services to improve health outcomes and stability.

“These individuals will have access to home health aides, community health workers, licensed clinical social workers — whatever they might need to ensure that they stay out of the hospital and in their homes,” Holzberg said.

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Read the full Summer 2025 edition of The Giving Life here.