Special Feature
IMMIGR ANT SUCCESS STORIES Tom’s story starts like so many immigration stories we’ve heard before. In 1975 when Saigon fell, his mother got on a boat with 6 of her 8 children to seek a new life - one that didn’t
involve being afraid for your life, one that meant you weren’t fearful of that fated knock on the door telling you you had to go with the authorities and be “RE-educated”, one of freedom and independence. He was 7. Upon arriving in the US by way of a sponsoring church in Ohio, his mother heard from friends that Massachusetts had the best schools. So, she packed up her family again and moved east. Speaking very little English, she worked two full time jobs and made sure each and every one of her children finished college. Most of his siblings went on to earn advanced degrees as well. Housing was expensive, so his whole family lived in two bedrooms and a dining room in a friends apartment until the friends were able to move into a place of their own. Tom remembers the struggles of those times. He remembers his family not having enough money so he could have a birthday party where his friends could be invited. And yet, they pursued.
It was that time his mom wanted to buy a home. Driven out of a discriminatory neighborhood, his family moved into one of the most depressed of areas in Massachusetts. His family
Tom Truong
bought their first 3 family home - for a whopping $34,000 where Tom first was exposed to the power of real estate investments. He remembers
By: Marissa Truong
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