Jimmy Sutman

YOUNGSTOWN — On a cold winter morning in the late 1990s, Jimmy Sutman, president of Iron and String Life Enhancement (ISLE) and the Purple Cat, received a phone call that would nearly put an end to his dreams just as they were beginning.

A staff member called to report that their first and only mobility van, essential to transport their newest wheelchair-bound client, had been stolen.

“That was all the money I had in the world… I remember buying it and feeling so pleased — then, feeling doom,” he said.

It was unlikely that they’d ever see the van again, especially at a time when crime was so high in Youngstown. However, thanks to some “divine intervention,” according to Sutman, an officer patroling the South Side spotted the bright green van — with its white ISLE Inc. placards still on the doors — parked in front of an abandoned house.

As the officer pulled into the driveway, blocking the van, he noticed some movement coming from inside. The thieves, unable to operate the wheelchair lift, had trapped themselves inside.

Looking back now, Sutman can laugh about the theft — having quickly gotten the van back with minimal damage. However, it nearly derailed everything that he had been working toward.

Just after graduating from Grove City College with a degree in journalism, while still living at home, he began working at WKBN-TV 27. As the “low man on the totem pole,” he was working from 4 p.m. to midnight — including Saturdays and Sundays — writing about all the depraved crimes Youngstown had to offer.

“That’s when all the murders happened, you know, especially Youngstown back in the ’90s… I was interviewing grieving mothers,” Sutman said.

So, he decided to start looking for a daytime job — to move out of his parents’ house, but also to find out more about life.

While growing up, he had lived across the street from Mark Castro, an adult with disabilities, and while away at college, his mother’s twin sister — who was well into her 40s — gave birth to a child with Down syndrome. So, between those two, he had developed a bit of an affinity for working with the disabled.

His aunt informed him of a sign outside the Leonard Kirtz School in Austintown, stating it was looking for employees. There, Mahoning County provides comprehensive programs and education for school-age children with developmental disabilities.

In need of money, he took the job, not even caring if he ended up cleaning toilets. However, he wouldn’t have to because he was hired as a substitute instructor working with males — sometimes behavioral ones — and having to call his supervisor daily to see where they needed him. Here, he began his trek into the professional world of working with people with disabilities while continuing to work evenings at the TV station and “slinging pizzas” at LaRocca’s to make ends meet.

After five years of this, Sutman decided to branch out on his own, spurred on by concerns of some families with whom he worked.

I would meet with (them) to talk about the day program,” he recalled, “(and they’d say,) ‘I’ve got bigger problems. My kid’s an only child; what’s going to happen to them when I die?”

Sutman met his first client, Joe Gallagher, working for the school. Gallagher, who had Down syndrome, immediately took a liking to Sutman without him having to do anything to earn his trust. To help ease the burden on Gallagher’s family, Sutman would pick him up on weekends, sometimes even letting him sleep over at his new apartment.

However, after being passed back and forth between his brothers for years, Gallagher eventually began to rebel. One particularly bad night, when Gallagher clung to the staircase banister and refused to let go, they called Sutman for help.

He had been mulling it over and finally decided just to throw it out there — what if Joe came and lived with him?

Admittedly, the family was confused, but Sutman explained how Gallagher wasn’t alone in this.

He soon contacted the state to see what he needed to do and at their request returned to school — this time at YSU — to take a few psychology courses. Upon receiving his license, he immediately asked for Joe Gallagher.

Thankfully, he’d gotten in at a good time — the state had just begun to privatize its disability care, giving him access to funding that wouldn’t have otherwise been there. Iron and String Life Enhancement was founded in 1998, with the name inspired by his first two clients.

“I know that’s cumbersome, but Joe loved ironing… so he was the iron,” Sutman said.

The string originated from his second client, Bradly Huffman, who was on the autism spectrum and born with dwarfism.

“(He was) so damn cute, and always had a little ball of string. I wanted to name it after those two, so iron and string. Fortunately, it made a decent acronym in ISLE,” Sutman said.

In 2004, he expanded into day programming with the Purple Cat after the state had further begun privatizing its own care facilities. This name again came from Gallagher and his fascination with the stained-glass purple cats at Youngstown’s St. Columba Cathedral.

Sutman’s creative approach to naming his programs reflects the same approach that he takes with clients and the deep connection that he forms with them. What began as just a residential program blossomed into a day program and now a network of organizations, including a recording studio, radio station, a working farm and now a campground.

His journey — from a young journalist to a community leader supporting individuals with disabilities — is a testament to that creativity, resilience, and unyielding commitment to making a difference in people’s lives.