This house has been a home to my family since 2007. Though it wasn’t our first home, we are very lucky to own a house like this. My parents and older brother come from the Philippines, where housing prices are much lower than the ones in the United States. When they emigrated to Virginia, they had plans for their present and future kids to live a better life. My mom and dad were very lucky to gain help from family friends and cousins that were in VA. For a few years my parents started living in an apartment with a family friend, while they were looking for a stable job. My siblings were being accompanied by many different friends and family of my mom and dad while they were out. When my parents were doing well, they decided to go and apply for a loan to help buy a home. This house was one of the major firsts when it came to buying property since the day they came to the U.S. It was a risk and my parents decided to go for it. Now I don’t have many memories when we first moved into the house, but I created so many memories with my family within the 15 years living in the home. I hope that in the future I can show my kids this house and create some memories with them, too.

– T.O.

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant