HOLLAND, MI — It’s been a tough summer for Nathan Duszynski and his parents, Lynette and Douglas Johnson.

13-year-old Duszynski, who has become something of a local celebrity after his attempt to start a hot dog stand business was stymied by Holland City Hall, has checked into the Holland Rescue Mission with his mother for an indefinite stay.

“We don’t have the money to move out,” said Lynette Johnson. “It’s embarrassing, but it’s the truth.”

The stint at the Holland homeless shelter comes just as Duszynski's hot dog cart business was beginning to pick up. The young entrepreneur, whose hot dog cart was bought by a Holland businessman who is letting the kid use it for free, has been busy booking private events in West Michigan.

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The cart is the only solid income the family can rely on, said Lynette. But the business is in jeopardy due to the family’s financial situation.

“We’re trying to keep it going for Nate, but it’s costing more money at this point when he’s not set up every day.”

The reason, she said, is that each event requires a new health department permit, and the cost varies between West Michigan municipalities. The last event, a private wedding reception on Friday, cost about $200 for the permit.

Coupled with food and supply cost, they barely broke even, she said.

That they are trying to keep it going at all is something of an anomaly. Nathan’s step-father, Doug, lost his job working as a paralegal for the Michigan Rehabilitative Services in Grand Rapids when the office shut down this summer.

To compound that, Doug suffers from multiple sclerosis, and Lynette suffers from epilepsy as a result of complications during childbirth, which precludes her from working.

She and Nathan are checked into the Holland shelter while Doug is remaining in a friend’s pole barn, which the family had been staying in together in recent weeks.

He cannot join them at the shelter because he requires medications that are not allowed per the shelter rules. So far, the family is doing the best to keep the cell phone bill paid, get food stamps squared away, and stay nourished at the shelter.

“Nathan’s alright, but he hates it here,” she said. “He wishes we were back with Doug.”

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