Faced with a cancer diagnosis, this Southlake woman went to work to help others

Mimi Tran of Southlake is a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. So, even as she was undergoing treatment for cancer, she turned her attention to helping others who had the disease.

“I knew that I had cancer for a reason,” Tran said. “I needed to use my best trait and raise money for those that can’t pay down their deductible.

“It was the right thing to do. I couldn’t be sad for myself. This, too, was a journey that I’ve learned so much about me and life.”

And so began the Me Squared Cancer Foundation . Based in Southlake, the foundation helps others working through cancer by assisting with medical costs. To date, they have given out around $1.6 million to help over 600 patients.

“This was done from a village of volunteers,” she said.

Me Squared is celebrating its fifth year in existence in 2024.

Tran shared a story about helping a couple after the husband was diagnosed with cancer. They lived below the poverty level, paycheck to paycheck, and had a $3,500 deductible on their insurance.

“She started to walk door-to-door in the heat of August asking for money. With holes in her shoe, she was able to raise $2,000,” Tran said. “Her patient advocates at the hospital called to tell her that the organization Me Squared Cancer Foundation was able to grant her $1,500 to start his treatment.”

Tran learned she had triple negative breast cancer in December of 2018.

“This type of cancer is very fast-paced and dangerous,” she said.

Tran is now in remission going on five years. However, there were lots of trials and tribulations in getting there.

“I even had PTSD from cancer,” she said.

She started with four rounds of the famous “Red Devil,” a nickname for the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin. Then came a dozen rounds of a different chemo.

She underwent four surgeries, along with radiation every day.

Now, reflecting, she notes something of which she is particularly proud.

“I worked through my cancer journey and exercised each day,” she said.

Starting the foundation

While going through chemo, Tran imagined how much more difficult such a fight must be for those less fortunate financially. So she told her husband Trung that she wanted to help by starting a foundation.

“I gathered a group of like-minded friends to start a board with 21 members. Yes, this was way to big, but I thought we need bodies to get the job done,” she said. “I felt if cancer patients could get help paying down their bills, they would get their treatment faster.”

The foundation began fundraising in October of 2019. The Women Empowered Luncheon raised over $85,000.

“Then 2020 hit and the pandemic put everything on a hold for a bit,” she said.

They came back strong in 2022 with their first gala, raising over $629,000.

“I know that I’m good at raising money, I need volunteers to help with the everyday operations,” she said.

A friend suggested Tran call the foundation Mi Squared, a play on her first name. While flattered, she went in a little different direction.

“I knew I didn’t want the foundation using my name,” she said. “I wanted it to be about the cancer patient, then to add the organization that will take care of the patient.”

Tran is first generation in the U.S. Her parents escaped Vietnam in 1975 as her father was a pilot for the South Vietnamese military, which partnered with the U.S. Army.

“We had nothing when we arrived in the states. We landed in Florida, Elgin Air Force Base,” she said. “My dad got a job in New Orleans flying helicopters.

“My parents made sure we got an education, that was their focus.”

Tran, now in the banking industry, began by owning a small business working out of her house while raising her children.

“I was on the phone with my banker, when she asks what I was going to do next? I told her that I want to be in banking but didn’t know what that entailed,” Tran recalled.

Now, she’s with Texas Regional Bank as the Southlake market president tasked with building private banking.

Both of her children followed their father into the medical field. Son Tien is a practicing dentist married to a dentist, Jackie Phan. Daughter Thi is doing residency at Texas Children’s in Houston.

More than money

Me Squared Foundation also educates people on how to apply for grants, partnering with several agencies. It also gives each patient a “Caring Bag,” something that started when she was going through treatment.

The bag features items such as coloring books with pencil crayons, a journal for patients to write their thoughts, gripper socks to help walk the hospital floors, a warm and fuzzy blanket, candles for soothing, mask, gloves, and more.

Also, several board members are cancer survivors themselves.

“If a patient needs someone to talk to, we typically will connect with the board member to help through the cancer crisis,” Tran said.

Debbie Warren is among those Me Squared has helped. In a letter to the foundation, she wrote, “Seeing people like you give and want to help people really sparks something in me that makes me want to help cancer patients as well.”

Tran said 100% of funding is through fundraising, including reoccurring donors and corporate donations.

The annual Gala is where most of the funds are collected, she said. The next one will be March 8, 2025, at Westin Southlake.