Kian Ahmadi photo
Jermaine Galberth at Scantlebury Park's splash pad on Monday.
As two-year-old Jermaine Galberth, Jr. pushed his little sister Jasmine’s stroller through the Scantlebury Park splash pad, proud dad Jermaine, Sr. watched his children at play — and remembered when he was a kid and there was little more than sewer water in a place now teeming with much healthier opportunities for cooling off.
That was the scene on Monday afternoon at Scantlebury Park, a cornerstone public green space in the Dixwell neighborhood right off of the Farmington Canal Trail.
The Galberth family — Jermaine Sr., Jermaine Jr., Jasmine, and nine-year-old Noah, who climbed monkey bars nearby — have been enjoying the public park’s splash pad every day this summer to beat the heat.
Noah hanging from park's playscape.
Jermaine and his wife of two years, Tiana Galberth, have been surfing between friend’s homes while searching for permanent housing. The park offers him a “sanctuary” to keep the kids entertained, while allowing Galberth to step in to his role as a full-time father.
As a dad, Galberth said he hopes to give his children the chance to succeed in establishing a stable life for themselves when older. After serving four years in prison starting at age 17, Galberth, who is now in his mid-30s, said he learned the importance of learning from your mistakes. He hopes to prevent his children from making the same ones he made years earlier.
With a grunt, he took a moment on Monday to touch each hand to the opposite foot, stretching out his left side. Just a few months ago, Galberth was in a collision on Dixwell Avenue, when his car crashed into an oncoming U‑Haul moving truck.
“You need to put thought into the decisions you make, because they don’t just affect you,” Galberth said. “But the thing about mistakes, it’s not about what you’ve done, but what you learn from it. And I want my kids to learn to make the right decisions.”
As he stretched and spoke, a half dozen kids splashed in the park’s cooling water behind him, laughing and getting soaked as their parents watched nearby. Galberth’s kids took a break from the water for the occasional snack of Goldfish.
“I’m just thankful that I’m here and that I can spend time with my kids,” he continued. “So many dads could be out here [in the park], but they’re not.” He gestured towards a group of children running across the playground, revealing a tattoo on his forearm that reads, “All for the love of family, fortune, and fame.”
Galberth recalled growing up near Scantlebury Park before it was decked out with a playground, a splash pad, and two pickleball courts. “I used to run down from that hill along Dixwell and into the woods that stood where the pickleball courts are now.” He said he sees his young self running on the same fields where his children now play.
But for Galberth, the highlight of the park when he was a kid was when the sewers would overflow and he could cool off with his friends. Just like his kids, Galberth would spend hours splashing around in the water, but without the luxury of a lively splash pad.
Galberth said he feels thankful for the city’s initiative to revitalize the park, enabling future generations of New Haven children to build community and “just be [kids].” His gratitude manifested in simple acts of picking up trash, an obligation he feels after all that the park did for him.
“We don’t want to be lost in this world. I mean, look how that tree is breezing. Who would want to miss that?”
Jermaine Sr. with his kids Noah, Jermaine Jr., and Jasmine.
A beautiful slice of life story of a New Haven family, the importance of parks, playgrounds and splash pads, the need for affordable housing, and of the true meaning of fatherhood, showing up for your kids and trying to give them a better life than you had yourself growing up.