The Ground House opens Sunday in former SISU Nutrition building

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Tucked inside the former Sisu Nutrition building on Main Avenue, begins a new chapter of healing and community wellness as The Ground House fills the space.

Lisa Finck started her journey learning about modern medicine years ago after working at a clinic in Brainerd, Minn. More recently she began learning about the ins and outs of traditional medicine and alternative medicines which she is bringing to New York Mills.

Her foray into these alternatives came after her daughter was born nine years ago with a rare genetic condition, one which causes seizures, the first of which she suffered at the age of only seven weeks. Finck quit her job and became a full-time caregiver to her child and has been finding alternative solutions for her daughters, as well as her family’s medical issues over the past decade.

“She was only seven weeks old when she had her first seizure,” said Finck of her daughter’s genetic condition. “So seeing my baby hooked up to all the stuff was really crazy and it was very traumatic. When they go in, they get all these wires on their head and they’re different colors, so for her, it was like ‘hey, we’re going to get your rainbow hair.’”

The trauma combined with the hope for a better way to do things led Finck to creating a business, Rainbow Hair Hats, where she made colorful hats that those with consistent need for electroencephalograms (EEG testing), would be able to hide those intimidating wires which some patients need for long-term use throughout their daily lives.

“It’s hard for kids,” said Finck. “I’ve had adults, they go to work, they’re living their lives and they’re still hooked up to these machines, so let’s give them something to wear over it so it doesn’t look so scary, and intimidating or making them feel even more different.”

Meanwhile, the Fincks, who live near Nimrod, Minn., were taking their children to Perham five days a week for therapy and as their daughter’s seizures started to be easier to control and less aggressive, Lisa found that she had about five hours a day that she needed to find something to occupy her time, something she hadn’t had in since the beginning of her daughter’s diagnosis.

“You can only go to the coffee shop and the library so many times,” said Finck. “I’m not the only parent with this need, so I wanted to create a space where other parents can come and hang out or read a book or just relax or do art, whatever it is. I wanted to be able to hold support groups and the kids can be back in a sensory room, I don’t have to worry about parents not being able to come because their kids are at home.

“It’s hard to do anything sometimes with children like mine, so let’s make a space where we can do what we need to do and support who we can and just have some fun while we’re at it,” she continued. “Share the things that brought us some comfort and be in community.”

Finck said that one of the hardest challenges over her years of being a caregiver was that her own needs would often get put on the back burner as her daughter’s medical issues came first. With some of her time, she became a fellow with the Initiative Foundation, learning about business.

“I knew that I struggled emotionally, mentally and spiritually with all of that,” she said. “I was in such a dark, lonely, isolated space for so long that when I started the fellowship, I realized how much of myself I had lost in those years. You feel lost and question ‘how am I going to do this?’”

As Finck persisted with her business idea, she continued to learn more about alternative and holistic medicines including reiki—a Japanese energy healing technique—as well as breath work, something her husband, Ryan, is currently finishing up an apprenticeship in and hopes to offer in the near future.

“We found that my daughter did really well camping and I’m obsessed with camping, we love being outdoors, my husband grew up being in the woods and has always lived in the country, so it was there that we really started doing a lot of these things,” she said. “Things where we can go back to basics and really just feel centered and grounded again in the world, outside, in the stillness, in the calm, but we had to be intentional about it, we had to make those places for ourselves, we had to make that time for ourselves.”

During her fellowship, Finck decided that she wanted to open a business where she wasn’t sacrificing her health and sanity as she had in her past jobs working 40 or more hours a week, but where she was able to offer an opportunity to work, heal, and fellowship at her own pace with her own mental and emotional needs at the forefront as well as the needs of the community.

“In order for me to work, I need to make sure I still can take care of myself,” she said. “How do I incorporate that into my business? How do we take care of caregivers in general? We have to live in order for our children or our loved ones who we care for to survive and be safe and healthy.

“We learn a new way, we need to be slower, we need to be more intentional with our time and our energy and all of that,” she continued. “So it was learning balance. We really got into a lot of more holistic ways of relaxing.”

After participating in reiki sessions, Finck was highly impressed and decided to be trained in the technique. She is a reiki practitioner and will be offering those services as well. With her husband’s added breath work practices, sound baths, and other holistic healing approaches, The Ground House will offer a variety of different alternative healing methods in the near future.

“We learned so much about the brain and the body when my daughter’s diagnosis happened, because we had to learn about what it’s going to do to her,” said Finck. “You learn about how brain waves work, electrical currents, all that kind of stuff and you notice how it affects the body and how your breath changes and how meditation can help that, so we just started trying a little of everything and finding what worked for us.

“This isn’t a space where I want people to feel like we’re trying to change them or say this is what you should be doing,” she continued. “It’s a space where—I was in a really dark place and needed somewhere to be to have the hard feelings to process what I was going through—this is a space that is comfortable, safe, and there is no judgement.”

“I have a daughter that does not meet neurotypical standards, or what societal standards are, but she is who she’s supposed to be and I want a world to love her and accept her for that,” she said. “So where do we create space for people to grow in their confidence for themselves and how do we help their loved ones manage their stress and the emotions that come with being human when you’re given a situation that is hard?”

The Ground House will be offering a monthly gathering that will focus on self-care, self-love, self-empowerment themes and is available to everyone in the community. In the coming months, Finck is hoping to create spaces within the building for children’s sensory play, a variety of healing opportunities as well as a space for community fellowship for all ages and backgrounds.

“We just want to be a place where we can do arts and creativity things,” she said. “Our kids are neurodivergent and art is huge for that, we’re very big on art. Come and hang out, sit down, chat, it’s a gathering place. It’s been years in the making, it’s been a lot of stuff that has gotten us here.”

January’s gathering will take place on Sunday, Jan. 18 from 12-2 p.m. and will offer an opportunity to create a personal oil roller and bath salt mix. Finck emphasized the availability for anyone to come and get out of the house, make something intentional for themselves, and take some time for their own wellbeing.

“It’s community,” she said of what she’s most looking forward to. “I’ve always been someone who wants to help, so if I can help anyone feel less alone, less stigmatized, and more of a positive emotion, that’s what I want to do.”