It was created almost 15 years ago to help a close friend with Down Syndrome, but over the years, Youngstown-based Iron and String Life Enhancement, Inc. (ISLE) has grown in size and offerings, all designed to help disabled adults lead healthy, independent and productive lives.

“I founded the company in 1998,” said James Sutman, director and owner of ISLE. “At the time I was working for Mahoning County, writing behavioral plans for the adult service sheltered workshops when Joe Gallagher’s brother approached me, asking me to start respite care or residential facilities for adults with disabilities.”

Sutman said he had known the family for a long time, and he really cared about Joe, so he decided to give it a try.

“Joe loved me more than anybody. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone like him. He would always follow me around, and we had become such good friends that it was natural that his family would come to me and ask for help.”

Although his degree was in journalism, Sutman said he decided early on that his real “calling” was to help adults with special needs.

“My first job out of college was at a local TV station, and I needed additional work to complement my wages. I had a cousin with Down Syndrome, and people suggested that I try working with children at the Leonard Kirtz School. They (the school) asked if I would work with adults, and I agreed. I loved it, and I have never looked back since.”

When the company first began, it provided residential housing in Mahoning and Trumbull counties to adults with disabilities, who could rent the units, with ISLE employees handling transportation, medical appointments and financial services.

As the residential end of the business grew, Sutman decided to take the business in a different direction, providing what he calls “Day Habilitation,” which ranges from vocational training to recreational opportunities.

He opened three sites in Youngstown called “The Purple Cat,” each one offering different programming and employment opportunities for disabled adults 22 or older. The main campus in downtown Youngstown is located at 117 S. Champion St., and focuses on creative arts, with participants or clients being taught to paint, draw, write, and sew as well as how to make ceramics and jewelry.

“There is also an emphasis on exercise since the YMCA is right next door,” said Sutman.

The east side site at 334 N. Pearl St. features a fully functioning kitchen, where clients make and sell meals to company employees and those in the downtown area. Others learn office skills and in some cases, serve as DJ’s for ISLE’s Internet radio station, goldenstringradio.org, where listeners can call in and make requests.

The third location is a 52-acre farm in Coitsville, where clients grow crops and provide animal care. It is large enough for sporting events and there is also a seven-acre lake with a wheelchair-accessible deck, where clients can fish or go boating.

In addition to the Purple Cat facilities, Sutman also opened Touch the Moon Candy Saloon at 8 S. Phelps Street in 2005. The store specializes in “nostalgic” and regional candy that is hard to find in many stores.

“Touch The Moon Candy Saloon was designed solely for employment for adults with special needs,” said Sutman. “We picked a location close to city hall to help increase business.

“All of our clients get paid at least minimum wage for the services they perform,” said Sutman. “Their schedules vary based on how many hours they want to work, and which location they choose. Sometimes one person might want to work 40 hours, another might want to work three days, and another person might want to split the time between all three sites. We don’t try and make them fit into a mold.”

Although Sutman uses clients to help run his endeavors, he also employs over 200 other people, with the vast majority residing in Mahoning County. His wife Jill Perencevic, serves as director of The Purple Cat as well as overseeing the candy store.

“When Jim started the business, I was working as a case worker for the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities,” said Perencevic, who left her job to join her husband in 2004 after a director at ISLE left the company.

“When I took over, I began recreating the wheel so to speak. My degree was in rehabilitative sciences, which was geared toward helping the developmentally disabled. I never thought I would be able to put it to any practical use, but my work with ISLE is allowing me to do that.”

Perencevic said she tries to design the programs around “the way I would like to spend my day, and whenever I get suggestions, I explore them and see if I think other people might find them rewarding. We’ve had programs that did not last, sometimes because they required too long of an attention span or were too technical.”

She said the Internet radio station has proven to be one of the most successful and exciting ideas yet. “We started with two program sites, where we set up a computer and speaker in the building with clients playing music and doing announcements. They were very good at it, so we turned it into a station and now they run it by themselves.

“Our farm will soon have a small petting zoo, housing alpacas, miniature goats, chickens, rabbits, dogs and cats. It is a working farm and our clients plant crops and run the equipment. They have even taught us a few things.

“We use the jalapeno peppers to make our Purple Cat Jalapeno Hot Pepper Jelly. Our clients pick the peppers and chop them up, and we send them out to be processed. They also help package the jars. Last year we sold about 1,000 jars.

“I try and pair up the clients with jobs based on their skills,” said Perencevic. “Each one is performing a valuable function that we need done in order to keep going. They can do almost anything I need.

“What is amazing about my clients is that they don’t see their disabilities or those of others. They are very accepting of each other and they have an amazing strength and confidence.”

Of course, running so many different outlets comes with its challenges, but Perencevic said she enjoys what she does.

“It’s not even like a job. It’s more of a lifestyle that my husband and I live. It can be hard sometimes, raising money for a new program and setting it up, but once it’s established, it’s great and then I try and move on to the next thing. Jim allows me to be creative. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have this as an outlet.”

Sutman isn’t finished just yet. He is currently trying to buy the vacant Kress Building on West Federal Street in Youngstown, with the goal of expanding the office space for The Purple Cat and perhaps providing residential housing there as well. ISLE currently has 52 residential clients.

“When I jumped into this, I had no idea it would blossom into multiple businesses and clients. I just let our clients with disabilities guide me. I try my best to assess their needs and develop programs and businesses to support them,” said Sutman.

So, the Thomases of Youngstown are great but if you are part of this Thomas Family, You are great no matter where you live! Thank you!

Jimmy

I started ISLE in 1998 because Joe needed somewhere to live.  I started Golden String in 1999 because Joe needed tickets to Indians games and a vacation.  My wife Jill and I started the Purple Cat to offer Joe another choice in his day programming and work.

Now that’s he’s in heaven, and he most certainly is in heaven, there is a giant chasm in my world.  I used Joe as my example in teaching and training staff, my barometer for almost all client decisions, my measuring stick for Christmas shopping.  Joe is part of my tradition at every holiday.  I was blessed enough to share many holidays with him; go to Florida with him, attend many of his familiy’s parties and picnics, drink beer with him, ride roller coasters with him, camp with him, cook with him, rake leaves with him, iron with him, and sleep right next to him.  Heck, Jill and I even took Joe Gallagher to the St. Charles’ festival for our first date.

Joe has given me more than I ever gave him.  He has taught me a lesson that permeates my life and hopefully all of my decision making.  That lesson is what I call, “recognition of humanity”.  With Joe, especially late in his life, he didn’t hear very well or towards the very end, speak very much.  I constantly had to observe and wonder why he reacted or did certain things.  He taught me to observe very well and to do so in a slow manner.  After all, Joe observed much and did so at his own slow pace.  He had a gentile touch and smile.  He was always looking to give a hug or meet someone new.  He recognized the human spirit in others; he was a master of appealing to the humanity of us all.  He sought out people who lived on the fringes of society.  I think it was because he was a self-proclaimed, “Good Catholic” and a “Good Semaritan”.   Because of Joe, I look at people in a different way.  At the grocery store or the post office,I study the people around me.  I sometimes recognize their happiness or sorrow in the simplest of facial expressions.  I marvel at their little kindnesses to one another.   I wonder about their lives.

About five years ago, Joe and I would play a little “hooky” and skip out from work.  He, from Masco, and me, from ISLE.  I would let him sleep in a bit and then pick him up from Center Street.  We would go to a place on Youngstown-Poland Road, named Vic and Syl’s.  It was an old Burger Chef turned Hardies turned Vic and Syl’s.  A run down diner with very nice folks running it.  That’s why we went.  We liked the ladies behind the counter.  Joe really liked the ladies behind the counter.  He was quite philanthropic with his hugs.  On this one particular morning, Joe was not interested in his hugs.  When I went up to the counter to place our order, I discovered that Joe had slipped away.  I went into the dining area and found Joe sitting a booth with a man I had never seen before.  He was huge.  Very overweight and tall.  He had a full head of greasy, silver, curly hair.  He was wearing soiled, ripped sweat pants and a soiled, tight, white undershirt, a ring of sweat creating a semicircle under his neck.  I became nervous and briskly walked over to their booth.  Joe was smiling and nodding his head up and down.  I could easily tell that Joe was so proud to be sitting with this man.  I quickly extended my hand and introduced myself to the stranger.  His response was, “where did you ever get this guy?” and pointed to Joe.  The stranger went on to say that Joe was the nicest guy that he ever met and that he was really special”.  I sat and talked to the man and Joe for quite some time.  It turns out that he was quite educated and spoke with a strong vocabulary.  Joe offered him my breakfast sandwich and he the man ate it.  The three of us sat and drank coffee for about an hour.  We talked and just enjoyed each other’s company.  After finishing his second cup of coffee, the man got up and thanked us.  Again, he spoke of how important Joe was and how singularly special he was.  He walked away smiling.   Joe smiled during the entire conversation.  Joe was so kind to someone who was very easily dismissed by most.  This encounter immediately reminds me of Matthew 25:40: “ Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”  I think that helping this man at Vic and Syl’s was a test for me.  A test I would have failed if it were not for Joe.  He tethered me to God.  I think that Joe was closer to God than most of us.

In my mind’s eye, I see myself at my most serene and happiest, sleeping in a twin bed next to Joe upstairs at Center Street.  TV Land playing on the old 13 inch solid state TV that Chella gave Joe.  Lying there at daybreak with the theme from “All in the Family” playing  low.  The early sun fighting through the venetian blinds, exposing Joe.  He always slept on his side in the fetal position, but in this particular memory, Joe is not sleeping, but lying there, eyes wide open, smiling at me.   Joe, I miss you and will look for you in everyone I meet.  You are a one-of-a-kind.  I hope I gave you some freedoms, Joe.  I hope you are happy with me.

Joe died this past week, it is true, but as the author James Thurber once said, “After straight-arming the death angel for some time”.  He fought hard against the pneumonia like he fought hard to pump his little legs and square feet, propelling his three wheeled bike up Whetmore Hill near his home.  And in death, he still wins.  He now sits really close to Jesus with his beloved “Mommy” and “Daddy”, two people he has not seen in over fifty years close by.

Please do me a favor:  When you think about Joe, think about his smile, his mischief, his kindness.  Remind yourself to do something for someone in need.  For the spirit of Joe Gallagher is one of giving.  He gave to me and to the people whose lives he touched, so much.  He was a true inspiration.   And inspiration can strike in many ways.  Sometime try the Joe Gallagher style.  Just walk up to someone and ask, “What’s Cookin?”  You may be surprised to see what’s on their stove.

Merry Christmas! We lost our General, Joseph Patrick Gallagher in November. Here is the eulogy that I wrote. I hope you find some inspiration in it, in Joe, and in the special people that surround you. May God bless you and find you at peace.

Jimmy Sutman

luxury in simplicity,

light in the darkest places,

and may you have blessings

that endure

in times of change.