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‘This all started on my knees in county jail’ — Kyle Shaw, founder of Whole Truth Ministries.
DAYTON—Among the amazing causes we at Five Star Home Services support in the Miami Valley, Ohio, area, Whole Truth Ministries stands out for its work in some of the toughest areas where people need our help the most!
Kyle Shaw, 40, is the founder and executive director of Whole Truth Ministries.
Shaw sat down with us recently to discuss his organization, his recovery, and how his ministry has touched the lives of thousands over the years.
“This started on my knees in the county jail in 2013,” Shaw said. “That’s when God gave me the vision. I came home from jail the week of Christmas in 2014. We became an official nonprofit in July of 2015. Then, we opened our first recovery house in February of 2017.”
Since then, Whole Truth Ministries has grown to nine houses serving thousands throughout the region.
“We are currently trying to condense that back down to five houses and focusing on making people homeowners,” he said. “One of our guys just purchased one of our homes from us just two weeks ago.”
Currently, Shaw said they have up to 60 beds.
“God gave me the vision on my knees in the county jail,” he said. “I was begging Christ to come into my life. Through that, he gave me the vision. I had been getting high up until then. I had been to prison and to treatment. However, I had never been through recovery housing. That’s when God gave me the vision to have the recovery housing and start a ministry.”
At that time, Shaw said he was volunteering at One Bistro in Miamisburg.
“I had served there doing community service hours,” he said. “The executive director mentored me and helped me to start Whole Truth. Back then, it was just a vision. He helped me form the nonprofit, making Whole Truth legit.”
When asked how he could grow it to its current size, Shaw said God paved the way.
“As things progressed, we have had lots of opportunities for partnerships,” he said. “I am a big church thinker. Originally, I did not see it getting bigger than the five houses. Currently, they have a staff of 10 — seven full time and three part time who we have hired from within.”
Shaw said one of their houses is in South Lebanon, two are on East Third Street in Dayton, one is in North Dayton, one is in Englewood, and one is at Riverside.
Over the last eight years, the ministry has impacted more than 1,500 men in the Miami Valley, Ohio, area through outreach, partnerships, community cleanups, sober housing programs, and other recovery-related services aimed at helping others start recovery housing programs.
“Working with people in recovery presents a lot of challenges,” Shaw said. “You spend a lot of time building people up. Don’t have expectations. They can let you down. Not everyone will succeed.”
When mentoring people recovering from addictions, Shaw said he likes to look at the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.
“This is rewarding work,” he said. “We just plant seeds. It’s great when we reap a harvest. However, nine times out of ten, we just plant seeds.
Shaw said Five Star Home Services has played an integral role in helping them serve the needs of as many men as possible in need of recovery housing.
“At one point, Five Star purchased the Third Street house,” he said. “The landlord was going to sell it; we couldn’t buy it. Kip (Morris, founder of Five Star) purchased it and rented it to us. Then, we ended up getting a grant to purchase it.”
For that house, Five Star provided HVAC, electrical services, and equipment for renovations to their home on Troy Street.
“Five Star was also our main event sponsor for our golf outing,” he said. “Christian Rattin (CEO for Five Star Home Services) was there to support us as well.”
Additionally, Shaw explained how he used to work for Five Star in the early days and how many of his men have found employment with the company.
“We’ve had 10 to 15 Whole Truth residents work for Five Star,” he said. “They’ve been a great referral partner. In fact, Five Star Home Services has played an integral role in all this. You all have been integral partners. We have to find guys employment. We have to do HVAC stuff in our homes. Five Star has helped, by providing that employment and supplying that equipment. It has been great for morale.”
Many partnerships have been formed with ministries that have spun off from Five Star, including SOS Ministries.
For more information about Whole Truth Ministries, visit them at https://wholetruthministries.org or call (937) 308-1920.