Years back Tim was a student of mine at the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY. He went with my student groups to Greece more than once and took many courses from me dealing with philosophy as well. He became a double major in philosophy and art. Then he went on to the State University of NY in Albany for his Doctor of Humanities degree. Later on Tim did some teaching at St. Rose and spent a year working and studying in Greece. Still later on Tim came to Tucson where we worked together for the BorderLinks program which sought to educate United States people, especially college students, about the history of the Border and its surrounding issues.
After Mari and I spent a year teaching English in China Tim thought it sounded like something worth doing so he signed up to do a year teaching also, so he went to China for a year and travelled a good deal while there. All through these years Tim and Mari and I became really close friends. Then Tim returned to his hometown of Albany and began to develop the neighborhood around his Grandparents’ former home, which he had inherited, as a refuge for the many refugees that were coming to Albany to find a new life. In a way this is where Tim’s adult life really began.
His efforts on behalf of the refugees in Albany, who were mostly from Islamic countries, began to take hold and before long he had purchased a number of houses in the area around where his Grandparents had lived and fixed them up as inexpensive rentals for refugees. This was not an easy task because various drug dealers and other high crime operators had pretty much taken over the neighborhood. But slowly, and with some help from certain Albany city leaders, Tim was able to transform his neighborhood into an increasingly meaningful and strong and growing community.
Indeed, certain City leaders and the local newspapers began to realize what a solid transformation was taking place right there before their eyes. Tim’s work slowly became well-known in the area and he began to get an increasing amount of support from various quarters in the area. Before long the neighborhood which Tim had helped to transform became something of a model about which the City of Albany was proud. The community has received several large grants and increasing financial supporters, not the least of which came from a close friend here in Tucson, one Kay Bauman.
I am so proud of Tim for his continuing concern, along with practical know-how, in building this project into a genuinely successful reality. He has exhibited a large amount of savvy and stick-to-itiveness over the years and is greatly admired by the refugees who live and work in his community, as well as by the citizens of Albany. He has helped create a meaningful enclave where foreign newcomers to America can actually begin their lives anew. It’s enough to make a former teacher and continuing friend extremely proud!! Well done, Tim Doherty.