Encouraging Others to Care at Jocelyn Square Park
Friends of Jocelyn Square Park standing beside their newly planted swamp white oak.
It all began with trash. In 2020, while walking his dog every morning in Jocelyn Square Park, Kev Darnell began to pick up trash around the park. As this practice of his grew bigger, he kept track of all the bags he picked up, and eventually, in 2022, teamed up with URI to create the Friends of Jocelyn Square Park. The group began as a way for Kev to continue his hobby of collecting garbage but grew into a bright community that has helped transform a community park.
Jocelyn Square Park has some unique challenges compared to other parks in New Haven, as it lies between I-91 and the railroad lines, hindering people’s access. Furthermore, it is located in a neighborhood with limited park access, making it an important community hub for the area. On any given day you can see children playing in the playground, a band performing, or friends enjoying a nice picnic. While this park has always been vital to the community, the work of the Friends of Jocelyn Square Park has undoubtedly enhanced the beauty of the space and increased foot traffic. As Kev highlighted, much of the impact is not about the actual work. Seeing people care for the park encourages others to care for their space and pick up after themselves.
Now every Thursday evening from June to the beginning of August you can find a group of dedicated friends at Jocelyn Square Park. These friends come from all over the city to pick up trash, plant trees, water, and take a break from their other daily activities. As Kev said, “We have so many difficult conversations all day and [volunteering] is a real opportunity to have really positive interactions outside of work and with strangers.” It is a place to release, to focus on the present, and to be with friends and community members. The group understands that the park belongs to everyone; they steward the space not to have ownership over how it looks and feels but because they believe that everyone has a responsibility to help take care of their environment and community.
This past summer was the group’s third together, during which they planted five trees, hoping that their work will create long-lasting change. They also wanted to help increase the tree cover in an area of the city with sparse tree canopy. Always in good spirits no matter the heat, they worked together to plant a tulip tree, a burr oak, a white oak, a buckeye, and a swamp white oak, adding some variation to the park’s trees. Now this group will continue to water the trees for three years, sustaining their effort to care for and take responsibility for their space.
This is not the first iteration of the Friends of Jocelyn Square Park. In the ‘90s, New Haven community activist Theresa Carr began the group with some of her community members and friends. Theresa was known to be a woman of action; rather than complaining about the city’s inaction to take care of things, she would find a way to do it herself. Now her memorial lies in the park bearing the phrase “Keep doing our work,” which she said to a friend just two days before she died in 2014. These words ring true for the new version of the Friends of Jocelyn Square Park, as they are continuing to follow in her footsteps, asking what they can do to help and moving forward to improve their community.