Family Of Teen Whose Hot Dog Cart Was Shut Down Now Homeless

The city of Holland, Michigan, shut down the hot dog business of 13-year-old Nathan Duszynski a few weeks ago. Now he and his sick parents are homeless.

The family situation is heartbreaking. Nathan’s mother Lynette Johnson suffers from epilepsy. His stepfather Doug Johnson has multiple sclerosis. Because of these illnesses, the family has struggled to find permanent, full-time work.

Nathan’s hot dog cart was planned to help the family get through a difficult time. He saved the money for the cart and worked out an arrangement with the owner of a local sporting goods store to work out of the parking lot. The dude who owned the store thought it might attract customers and even offered Nathan a cut if he got people to rent motorized bicycles from in front of the store.

What a wonderful story, right? Wrong. From the Mackinac Center:

The city of Holland, however, shut down the business 10 minutes after it opened, informing Nathan it was in the city’s commercial district where food carts not connected to downtown brick-and-motor restaurants are prohibited. The Mackinac Center’s coverage of the issue has drawn national attention.

Last week, Nathan and his family made an appeal to the Holland City Council. Mayor Kurt Dykstra defended the city’s ordinance, saying it was to protect downtown restaurant owners, who asked that the “success of the downtown district not be infringed upon by those who don’t share in the costs of maintaining the attractiveness of that space.”

Just disgusting. And now we learn that this government action against American entrepreneurship and self-reliance has caused serious damage:

The family receives about $1,300 a month in disability payments, Medicaid and food assistance. The three are having a hard time staying together. MLive confirms what the Mackinac Center learned Thursday ”” Nathan and his mother are staying at the Holland Rescue Mission.

“Nate and I are now in a shelter,” Lynette Johnson said. “Doug can’t stay with us because he takes prescription narcotics to deal with his pain and the shelter does not allow him with those kinds of drugs.”

She said the situation has been stressful on the family. Lynette is afraid to be away from her husband in case she has a seizure.

Great work, Holland! Great work.

(Photo: Kiselev Andrey Valerevich/Shutterstock)