Jeff’s Place Names Heart-Katz as Program Director

Jeff’s Place, the Atlanta-based recovery community founded by Chabad Intown, announced that Camellia Heart-Katz has joined the organization as program director. In this role, Heart-Katz will lead Jeff’s Place’s community programming, and outreach efforts, while directing fundraising initiatives to expand the organization’s reach across the Atlanta Jewish community and beyond.

Jeff’s Place provides a safe, welcoming space where people in recovery, those struggling with substance use, and their loved ones come together for connection, support, and healing through weekly 12-step meetings, community events, and values-driven programming.

“Camellia brings exactly the combination of clinical grounding and community heart that Jeff’s Place needs as we grow,” said Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman, founder and director of Chabad Intown and Jeff’s Place. “Her firsthand experience supporting people through recovery, paired with her deep commitment to Jewish communal life, makes her uniquely suited to lead this next chapter.”

A native Atlantan and the daughter of Israeli immigrants, Heart-Katz began her career in Philadelphia, where she spent three years as a substance use counselor at a methadone clinic and nearly a year as an inpatient social worker in the NICU at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Drawn to Jewish communal work in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, she went on to join American Jewish Committee Atlanta, where she empowered young Jewish leaders through programming on combating antisemitism and shaping Jewish identity, and facilitated interfaith and cross-community dialogues.

Heart-Katz holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from the University of Georgia.

Heart-Katz officially takes on the role this month, succeeding previous program leadership as Jeff’s Place continues to expand its recovery-focused education and support programs for the broader Jewish community in Atlanta.

Jeff’s Place, an independent 501(c)(3) founded by Chabad Intown, is a community-centered recovery space where individuals of all backgrounds come together for connection, support, and healing through weekly 12-step meetings, community events, and values-driven programming. Learn more at jeffsplaceatlanta.org.

Founded in 1997, Chabad Intown is a Jewish center serving the Metro Atlanta community, offering programming for children, families, young professionals, and adults across every stage of Jewish life. Learn more at chabadintown.org.