T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY - From left to right, Kolten Walters, Dan Nehring, Chad Baker and Rob Ackerman stand outside the sober living house at 301 N. 4th St. in Marshalltown, the first in the state operated by Gods Way Ministry Iowa. It had previously been run by Kingdom Living.

Rob Ackerman has firsthand experience with the disease of addiction and how challenging it can be to overcome, and he wants to do everything in his power to assist others facing the same struggle.

“God has given me this beautiful vision to help people in recovery because everything is through Him anyways,” he said.

Ackerman, who runs Gods Way Ministry Iowa, is excited to announce that the organization has launched its first sober living house in the state — for men only — at 301 N. 4th St. in Marshalltown, taking over a home that had previously been operated by Kingdom Living near Rogers Elementary School. He admitted he isn’t overly familiar with the community, but when he heard that the house might be shutting down, he felt called to step in and do something to keep it going.

“God blessed us again with an opportunity to keep it going for us and keep the guys in the house and be able to expand. We can have nine guys in the house,” Ackerman said.

The process of taking over the operation went relatively smoothly, according to Ackerman, and the community support has been “phenomenal.” Currently, there are four residents, and the leaders hope they will see more men walking through the doors in the days, weeks and months to come.

Dan Nehring, who hails from Alden and is also assisting with the operations, explained that the home can be seen as a “stepping stone” for men who have left treatment, prison or a halfway house and need more time to focus on their recovery before fully integrating back into the world. Typically, stays are between a year and two years.

“It’s just a safe place — a safe place for them to come, continue their recovery, get out of the elements they were in, and then down the road, hopefully, everything we do for them gives them better choices,” Nehring said.

Chad Baker of Marshalltown is also working with the Gods Way team — he spent a year in the house when Kingdom Living owned it — and described how difficult it can be for an individual who has faced addiction to build a new life and resist the temptation to return to old ways.

“It’s rough at first. What helped me was just to surrender and find a higher power and sponsorship, going to church, going to AA meetings. If it wasn’t for any of that, I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” he said.

As Ackerman explained, the rules of the house require that residents attend a set number of meetings focused on recovery, and a house meeting is held every Sunday morning.

“It’s a brotherhood, you know what I mean? God’s called us to show love and build discipleship, and it’s a brotherhood. We can’t do it alone,” he said. “The first time we start thinking ‘I’ve got this, I’ve got this,’ we ain’t got nothing. I need Chad as much as I need Kolten (Walters). Everybody in the house needs to utilize each other for accountability. It’s a tough road, dude. Recovery’s a tough road. If anybody ever said it was easy, ain’t none of us would ever be in there, you know what I mean?”

Walters was one of the residents who had lived in the house under the previous management and felt a strong sense of gratitude that Gods Way Ministry came along to keep it open.

“I’m very grateful that Rob and Dan kept the house alive. I don’t know what I would do without it. It’s helped keep me sober, and it’s gonna continue to help keep me sober,” he said. “I’m forever grateful for it. I believe God uses people, and he’s definitely using those two guys.”

Nehring, who shared that he’d endured 35 years of “drugs, alcohol and prison” before making a change in his life, reiterated the importance of building a strong network in recovery.

“It took a while, but having a place like this all the times I went to treatment would’ve been a Godsend. But I never had that,” he said. “I went right back to where I was, the same people, the same places and tried to white knuckle it, and it just doesn’t work.”

Although he’s just getting this house off the ground, Ackerman already has visions for expansion in the future — one, in particular, is that he’d love to see a similar facility for women in the community operated by women. He’s also eyeing the opening of a house in Mason City.

Most of all, he wants to continue to help addicts and alcoholics get their lives back.

“It’s God’s plan. Whatever he’s got planned for us,” he said. “Here’s the biggest thing for me. When you’re in survival mode, you can’t dream, so I want to provide a home where people can be out of that survival and have a comfortable environment where they can dream and build a vision, you know what I mean, and be successful when they come from their pit and their rock bottom, and that’s what we need to do.”

Ackerman and his team also aim to do what they can to destigmatize addiction, especially as opiate overdoses continue to skyrocket. Last year in the Des Moines area, there were around 400, and by the end of May 2024, over 900 had been reported.

“We’ve all lived a rough road, every single one of us. Even though it’s different, the best thing about it is (that) I’m not above anybody,” he said. “We all walk shoulder to shoulder with each other, we fight the same fight and we keep going because it takes each other to keep each other going.”

To learn more about Gods Way Ministry and the house, visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/godswayministryia.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.