All About Lending Hands Community Services

Lending Hands Community Services is a small, family-owned establishment located in Long Prairie, Minnesota. The mission is to provide "Lending Hands" to individuals and families within the community. To do this, Lending Hands Community Services strives to provide a safe and secure environment to heal our traumas, advocate for ourselves and our community, nurture our relationships, discover ourselves, and support one another. 

At the core of our philosophy is community. Through a focus on strengths, individuals are able to explore challenges and life circumstances in a healthy manner. Lending Hands Community Services believes a community can be built in which individuals and families feel safe and secure. Each individual has great strengths as well as areas of growth. Building a desirable community entails a focus on individual strengths, an understanding of areas of growth, and a willingness to work together. Lending Hands Community Services has created a caring, non-judgmental, and open environment for individuals and families to build the skills and knowledge necessary to be productive members of the community. 

The journey of Lending Hands Community Services began in June 2014 as Danielle Kreemer, LMFT, LLC. Beginning as a private practice, psychotherapy services were provided to individuals and families in Alexandria, Minnesota. Working alongside the amazing providers at Psychological Associates of Alexandria, Danielle Kreemer, MS, LMFT served individuals and families experiencing mental or behavioral health symptoms. Services included diagnostic assessments, individual psychotherapy, and family psychotherapy. In addition, clinical supervision was offered for licensure candidates and provided to local county agencies.

As the agency grew, a number of the families seeking services were traveling from the Todd County, Minnesota area. To better serve the needs of those individuals, Danielle Kreemer, LMFT, LLC began the transition to an office located south of Long Prairie, Minnesota in June 2018. With continued growth, Kaylyn Ahrendt, MSW, LICSW brought new experiences and perspectives into the agency providing psychotherapy services as well. 

In January 2020, Lending Hands Community Services was created with the mission to provide "Lending Hands" to individuals and families within the community. The goal was to build the services needed in the area, including mental and behavioral health services. The Long Prairie location was purchased and renovations began! The building was designed to be child and family centered, with creative details and bright colors. 

With the renovations came the ability to offer additional services. One of the major renovations was adding a Parenting Time Center. Here, parents and children requiring supervision of their interactions were provided the opportunity to do so. The Parenting Time Center was designed to allow for short or extended parenting time with both in person and on-site video/audio monitoring. Kitchen facilities also allowed the families to gather over mealtimes. Outside play areas were provided for families to enjoy quality time outdoors as well. The Parenting Time Center officially welcomed families beginning in June 2020. 

Although allowing supervised parenting time was a primary goal of the Parenting Time Center, a secondary goal was to create a space where groups could gather for a shared cause. In addition to the Parenting Time Center, the hope was to provide parent education and support. The space would accommodate a Parent Education Program as well as group psychotherapy. As part of the Parent Education Program, children and caregivers are able to spend quality 1-1 time with age-appropriate activities provided. Following the parent-child interactions, parents are given an opportunity for education and support offered in a group setting. 

In January 2021, Lending Hands Community Services added Alternative Dispute Resolution to the services provided. Living in high conflict environments can create emotional dysregulation and behavioral responses in children and adults. In an effort to seek methods of managing these situations, Alternative Dispute Resolution services were discovered. This includes services such as family mediation, parenting consulting, parenting time expediting, custody evaluations, and parental capacity evaluations. Establishment of these services provided hope to reduce conflict and the impact it has on the relationships of those involved.  

2024 brought the closing of our Parenting Time Center. Due to a number of circumstances, and busying schedules of Lending Hands Community Service staff, it was decided that the Parenting Time Center would be closed. But as we all know, when one door closes, another will open...Lending Hands Community Services is proud to partner with Ashley Reynolds with Anthom Wellness to provide Craniosacral and Myofascial Release. Ashley is also working to offer Nutrition and Wellness Coaching as well! Check out her website at www.anthomwellness.com.