“After a certain point, going back home wasn’t an option,” Trae remembers. “Anytime I’d go back, she’d kick me out.”

For three years, he slept wherever he could—at friends’ homes, in cars, anywhere he could find a place for the night.

Then Trae found Rezek House, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota’s transitional living program for young people experiencing homelessness. Soon, he had a studio apartment of his own, a job, and a chance to begin building toward independence.

At Rezek, part of his rent was set aside in savings and returned to him when he moved out. “That really helped to prepare me for the next steps,” Trae said.

More than two years later, Trae is still living in the same apartment, working in a medical assembly job, and surrounded by supportive friends.

“I can honestly say I’m in the best time of my life right now,” he said. “I got somewhere I can lay my head. I don’t have to worry about sleeping outside, getting bit by mosquitoes or freezing.”

“Living at Rezek was the most helpful thing that happened in my whole entire life, and that’s no exaggeration.”

Stories like Trae’s are part of the reason Immanuel holds its Flea Market each year. The items donated, the hours volunteered and every purchase made help support community partners doing life-changing work throughout our area. When you shop the Flea Market, your purchase becomes part of stories like this one.

To learn more about the work of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, here is a link to their website.