Two Monroe County residents are planning to give back in the wake of personal tragedy. 

Adrian and Leisa Martinez’s daughter, Chloe, died in 2019 due to an accidental overdose. 

After Chloe’s death, the Martinez family got in touch with Art and Beth Deno, who run a St. Louis-based nonprofit called ACPD that helps people and their families overcome addiction and its effects. ACPD stands for Austin Christopher Paul Deno, the name of Art and Beth’s son who died from an accidental overdose in 2016. 

Five years later, those two couples are joining forces to create Cornerstone Laine at the former independent assisted senior living facility at 288 Mueller Lane known as Rosedale House. The nonprofit recovery residence is dedicated to helping women experiencing drug and alcohol addiction. 

“We’re excited for the opportunity to serve the women of Waterloo and all of Monroe County,” Leisa said. “We’re thankful for the opportunity. We look forward to sharing more details as the project moves forward.” 

Adrian and Leisa are perhaps best known in Monroe County as owners of Metro East Power Haus off Hanover Road. They plan to bring their years of business experience to running Cornerstone Laine. 

They will get help from the Denos, who live in South County, when it comes to providing treatment, as ACPD has helped over 750 people find treatment centers that fit their needs. That organization boasts a success rate of 81 percent, which is much higher than the national average. 

Even with all those efforts, ACPD still is unable to help around 25 people looking for a recovery center each month. Cornerstone Laine will look to fill that gap for women. 

Per information provided to Waterloo city officials, the facility will “provide a Christ-centered, supportive residential recovery environment” for women ages 18 and above through a 90-day program that includes meals, peer support, 12-step programs and a bible study for $8,000. Two scholarships will be available every 90 days, and residents can use various payment options if needed.

Five full-time and four part-time employees will operate the facility, which will have a maximum of 24 residents at a given time. 

Those residents may be from Monroe County, the surrounding area or anywhere in the country, according to the information. 

The goal with all of this is to save parents and families from the grief of losing a loved one to addiction, the women themselves from addiction, and individuals by “modeling the love of God through Christ.” 

“We want to make the community proud,” Leisa said. “We love the community and love living in the county. We’re just excited to see what God’s going to do with the project.” 

There are not yet definitive plans for when Cornerstone Laine will open, in part because more work needs to be done by the nonprofit and the city. 

“There are several different avenues being discussed if the aldermen choose to move forward with this proposal,” Waterloo Zoning Administrator Jim Nagel explained. “Each would include a zoning text amendment and a special use permit, and one would also include rezoning of the property.”