Recovery isn't
one-size-fits-all.
The Alternative is a men's sober living home for guys further along in recovery — a structured, non-committal stepping stone that respects whatever program already works for you, instead of forcing one on you.
Pay your way. Don't get high. Build yourself and your future.
A place worth wanting to be.
This is a house for guys who've already found what works for them and just need a safe, structured place to keep it going — somewhere you're glad to land, not just somewhere you're required to be.
Bring your own program
AA and NA are welcome, but they don't have to be the only path that counts. Church, fitness, therapy — whatever's actually working, bring it. You just need to be doing something real.
Real community
Men building something for themselves, together — a house that feels like a good place to be, not a program to get through.
Structure that respects you
One house meeting a week, one house dinner, and hard lines that actually hold. Real accountability, without a single path forced on everyone.
Flexible, non-committal
A weekly program service fee, not rent — and a licence to occupy, month to month, not a lease. You stay because it's working, not because you're locked in.
Whatever's working for you, it's welcome here:
This isn't a house for guys doing nothing. You need to be actively working a real program — it just doesn't have to be a twelve-step one.
Low-pressure isn't low-standards.
This isn't an unstructured flophouse. It's a house of real, enforced expectations — they're just not built around one recovery program.
No alcohol, nothing non-prescribed
The one line that never bends, for the safety of everyone in the house. What your doctor prescribes you is a different thing entirely — see below.
Random testing
Every Sunday, plus tests on no schedule anyone can learn. It backs the policy up instead of decorating it.
90-day minimum
Applicants need at least 90 days clean and sober going in. This house is a next step, not a first step.
Working or in school
Every resident is employed, actively job-hunting, or in school — building toward the next move.
Curfew
11 PM for your first 30 days, midnight after that. Predictable, and the same for everyone.
Chores & upkeep
Shared responsibility for cleaning and maintaining the house. Everyone contributes to the space.
No sex offenders
No exceptions — not in the program, not on the property, for the safety of the house and the neighborhood around it.
Your prescriptions are welcome
Every FDA-approved medication prescribed by a licensed provider is permitted here — Suboxone and methadone included. Nobody is turned away or removed over what their doctor prescribed.
Two phases, that's it
Thirty days to settle in, then most of your freedom back. No five-tier system keyed to what step you're on.
Two things a week you have to be here for.
That's the whole standing commitment.
The Alternative is being built to NARR Level II standards and is pursuing Iowa HHS recovery housing certification. We are not certified yet — certification requires three months of operation first.
Pay your way. Don't get high.
Build yourself and your future.
That's the whole deal. Everything below is the detail behind those three sentences — what we hold hard, what we leave to you, and what happens either way.
Four things end your stay the day they happen. No warning, no ladder, no exceptions.
- Using — alcohol or any non-prescribed substance Includes K2 and anything else synthetic, whether or not it shows on a panel.
- Violence, or the threat of it Toward anyone, inside the house or out front. This one is absolute.
- Refusing a UA, or tampering with one A refused or diluted sample is treated as a positive.
- Bringing substances into the house, or giving them to another resident Whatever your own use looks like, you don't take somebody else down with you.
Two phases. That's the entire program.
No five-tier system, no phases keyed to what step you're on.
- Everyone, no matter how much time you have.
- No furlough nights.
- No visitors yet.
- Be here, be on time, do your chores.
- At 30 days, tell the house what your program actually looks like.
- One furlough night a week.
- Visitors welcome in the common areas.
- Curfew is on your honor — nobody's standing at the door with a clipboard.
- Cutting it fine every night gets you asked what we're doing here.
Living together.
Nine to twelve grown men, one house, everybody's space respected.
This is a program service fee, not rent — and a licence to occupy, not a lease.
You're not a tenant here. You're joining a recovery program with a bed attached, and your place depends on your standing in it. That cuts both ways, and it's the reason the house can be what it is. We can end a stay at any time — and when we do, the only thing anybody else hears is that it wasn't the right fit and the bed is going to someone in a different place in their recovery.
A stepping stone, not a starting line.
Built for men who are done starting over — guys with a real program and real footing, who could probably get by on their own, just not safely or affordably yet.
Ready to stop starting over
Done relying on family, done with the reset that comes with it. You've got real time and a program that works — you need a stable place to build from, not another restart.
Could get by, just not safely yet
You could probably find your own spot — but it's in a rough part of town, or the money isn't there yet. This bridges that gap without the compromise.
Building toward something
Working or in school, saving up, staying flexible — a decent, safe community while you get to your next step.
Simple, weekly, no surprises.
A program service fee, not rent. No lease — a licence to occupy, month to month, for as long as it makes sense for you.
Paid every Sunday, in advance, for the week ahead.
Move in mid-week and that first partial week is prorated.
- Furnished room in a stable, structured house
- Every prescribed medication welcome, Suboxone included
- One house meeting and one house dinner a week — that's all
- Freedom to follow the recovery path that works for you
- No deposit, no application fee, no testing charges
Ready for an alternative?
The house isn't open yet. Get on the list now and we'll reach out with availability and move-in timing as soon as it is — no obligation, and nothing shared with anyone.
- Phone (515) 553-2125
- Email dc.dsm.dev@gmail.com
- Location Des Moines, Iowa