HOUSTON — Family and friends of Marcelo "Ox" Garcia continue to work to keep the fallen firefighter's legacy alive through an unrealized dream.
Garcia died on Nov. 6 while battling a fire in Houston's Greater East End.
"Seeing the community come out for him, it's been a blessing," Garcia's sister, Erica, told KHOU 11.
Now, Erica Garcia said she hopes an idea that started when Ox was alive will be one of his lasting ways to give back to the community he cared deeply for.
"His whole thing was to bring everyone together and I think this will be a place where we can definitely do that," Erica said.
That idea is the Magnolia Fund -- a way for local community members to invest in area developments. Among the developments in the works are a shared commercial kitchen space, an events space and potentially a restaurant.
"When you own something, there's a lot of care you put into it," Erik Ibarra said.
Ibarra is a founder of the Magnolia Fund which he started with Garcia. Ibarra and Marcelo Garcia were childhood friends, growing up in the Magnolia Park and Greater East End neighborhoods. The two stayed in the area as adults and sought a way to have the community have a stake in the changing landscape of developments.
"We look at it as an entire campus, we call it a food maker campus," Ibarra said. "Ox's dream was really to make sure that there's a space that the community could feel welcome and that that felt they felt at home in."
Family and friends say that once realized, the developments from the Magnolia Fund will further carry on Marcelo Garcia's legacy.
"We miss Ox and we really wish he was here," Ibarra said. "But we know that our work is going to honor him."
"Once it's completely done, it's going to be a perfect representation of him," Erica Garcia said. "I know that he is truly seeing this from up above in heaven and really, really grateful for everything."
The first development is expected to have its doors open towards the end of 2025.