For over 30 years, Jackson Recovery Centers has been a pioneer in providing addiction treatment services to the community. Our organization is governed by an 18-member board of directors and, because of our founders Dr. Bill and Marienne Jackson, Jackson Recovery is prospering from a vision that makes it a great place to work, learn, grow, and recover.

Our History

Dr. William “Bill” Jackson and his late wife Marienne founded Jackson Recovery Centers, Inc. in 1976. Marienne's recovery from alcoholism opened the door for Bill to examine his life and facilitated his recovery and created a marriage and partnership that was committed to a life of “giving it away”. In the mid to late 70's Sioux City and the Siouxland region had a full continuum of adult addiction treatment options but lacked specific adolescent addiction services. Marienne and Bill's love of children and their commitment to Siouxland demanded that the lack of adolescent addiction services be addressed. They went about researching the best way to address this need. It was determined that the best way was to create a new not-for-profit company specifically designed to meet the needs of adolescents with addiction problems.

In 1976, Bill and Marienne filed incorporation papers and created the Gordon Chemical Dependency Center. It was named Gordon in honor of the Gordon Memorial Hospital, an osteopathic hospital in Sioux City that closed upon the two major hospital's acceptance of Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine onto their hospital's medical staffs. Gordon Memorial Hospital leased their facility to Gordon Chemical Dependency Center for $1.00 per year. This generous gift provided the opportunity to start the adolescent - specific residential program.

Bill and Marienne recruited many dedicated and influential members of the community to be on the inaugural board of directors. Their dedication, commitment, and hard work created a program that was unique to Iowa and one of only a few adolescent - specific programs in the country. The reputation of the Gordon Chemical Dependency Center grew and it enjoyed a reputation of excellence across the country.

Chemical Dependency services went through many changes in the late 70's and 80's and the local programs responded. Gordon Chemical Dependency Centers affiliated with St. Luke's Regional Health System as a solely owned subsidiary in 1989 and expanded to include the services of the Siouxland Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, a provider of adult addiction prevention and treatment services. This action also included the expansion into the area of eating disorders and gambling treatment.

Throughout the affiliation with St. Luke's, St. Luke's Gordon Recovery Centers grew in service area via a merger with MIADAC. This merger expanded the primary catchment area to Ida, Monona, Crawford, and Shelby counties.

In 1998, it was determined that the best way to continue to meet the needs of the Siouxland community was to once again become an independent community based not-for-profit. The separation from the St. Luke's Health System created a comprehensive addiction prevention and treatment organization committed to providing the highest quality addiction services to all of Siouxland.

In April of 2002 Dr. Bill Jackson retired as medical director. In recognition of his and Marienne's courage and commitment to those who suffer from addiction, the Gordon Recovery Centers was renamed Jackson Recovery Centers, Inc.

Our Vision

We all have had the honor of being raised up beyond what we could be by standing on the shoulders of true pioneers and leaders in our community – Bill and Marienne Jackson. As founders and leaders of all the iterations of Jackson Recovery Centers they inspired and led us all with a vision of love and hope! They led us to become the “best we can be” and to provide unsurpassed outcomes by utilizing best practices and focusing on the delivery of services to meet the needs of our community. Jackson is a community-based organization which strives to become the best by committing to meeting the needs of our brothers and sisters in Siouxland.

Bill and Marienne believed that all should be treated with love and respect and be infused with the hope that “life can change”. They created a vision that requires that those who work for Jackson Recovery Centers must believe that all deserve to experience the life of recovery – a life of honesty, responsibility and willingness to change. Bill and Marienne created a vision where the lives of the young and old alike could be transformed – literally saved. They believed a passionate and competent staff rooted in the values of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous was critical to achieving this vision. They also believed that while love and an accepting heart were essential to successfully helping people experience the life of recovery, state of the art leadership technology and data driven decision making was also critical.

Bill and Marienne's vision remains our vision today. We are here to save lives – transform lives from ones of despair to lives of recovery. All of our clinical and administrative services are rooted in the values of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. We utilize the principles of servant leadership and the technologies of a “learning organization” to create a professional culture that strives for excellence and delivers all its services wrapped in the gifts of love and hope.

We are empowered and invigorated each day by Bill and Marienne's example. We strive to make them proud and to fulfill their dream of a healthy, safe, stigma-free community, committed to the prevention, intervention, and treatment of the disease of addiction.

In order to honor Bill and Marienne, and show our appreciation to the many people who have sustained their vision, we have created a new recognition club called the Bill and Marienne Jackson Founders Club. We invite you to learn more about the Founders Club and respectfully request your consideration in becoming a member.

All we do is done in their honor!