Dr. Vince Murray, retired executive director of the Bagley Housing Association from 1995 to 2007, was singled out for a special honor on Saturday, September 16 during the Detroit Month of Design by current community leaders in the Hubbard-Richard neighborhood Tanya Saldivar Ali and her husband Luis Ali, Jessica Trevino and Dan Loacano.
AGI Construction founder and Administrator Saldivar-Ali explained the rationale for bestowing the honor on Murray now. “As the City celebrates Detroit Design Month and the theme, United by Unity, we felt it was important to remind Detroit that we must Design in Unity and honor community leaders that invested in our community before the rest of the world took notice. Vince Murray had a vision to see people come back to Detroit in the 90s. He understood the importance of creating affordable homes for low-income families.”
The impact of Murray’s leadership continues to this day. Saldivar-Ali noted, “Bagley Housing built 65 homes that became seeds of hope that later began to flourish as the Hubbard Richard Community. It’s easy to believe and have vision when things are good and there are plenty of resources. It takes a special leader to have vision when no one believes. Vince Murray was a special leader,” Saldivar-Ali said.
Dan Loacano served as the assistant director at Bagley Housing under Murray and reminisced about their time together. “It was an honor and privilege to work for Vince. We were fortunate to be able to provide affordable homeownership opportunities to more than 80 individuals and families. His legacy will never be forgotten,” Loacano said.
In accepting the honor, Murray stated, “Of course I’m proud of the work that Bagley Housing did to help create a revitalized neighborhood in Southwest Detroit. And, let me tell you, the volunteer grounds keeping work that I’ve been doing at Stanton Park since 2009 has been a really good thing for me, body and soul.” In conclusion, he humbly noted, “In once short time span, I went from executive director of Bagley Housing to become the chief volunteer groundskeeper for Stanton Park.”
Dr. Murray remains a humble but accomplished leader to this day.
