Green Bay disability activist aims to make the city more inclusive, one bead at a time

GREEN BAY − By the time her child turned 7, Saphronia Purnell would get a diagnosis that confirmed her child was different from their peers.

She learned her child was on the spectrum, and they would both need to work extra hard to get an education suitable to their needs. Soon after the diagnosis, she understood that systemic barriers stood in the way of her child's — and other children's — well-being and quality of life.

Purnell wasn't about to accept that.

She turned to Wisconsin FACETS, an acronym for Family Assistance Center for Education, Training and Support, to educate herself around the laws that protect people with disabilities.

"The more my child grew and I utilized those laws and avenues and resources, the more I could help share it with the next parent behind us because I'm able to look at (a mother's) struggles," Purnell said. "And I know I've been there."

Purnell has made disability rights the center of her universe, and by her own admission, she's a force to be reckoned with. She once stood on a table early in her advocacy at an individualized education program meeting to make her voice heard. She's brought reams of documents before judges and doctors as a volunteer guardian of adults with disabilities for Brown County, always mindful of the maxim, "If you don't document it, it didn't happen."

Her commitment to disability rights has paid off. Literally. In December, the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities awarded Purnell a 2022-2023 Sparks Grant of $5,000. The grant, awarded to five people in Wisconsin this year, provides people with disabilities more social and meaningful connections by incorporating additional inclusive programming. One of the goals of the grant is to improve overall attitudes toward people with disabilities.

Purnell is stringing together a couple of plans suitable for youths and civic leaders alike, with the goal of making the city of Green Bay a more inclusive, welcoming place for people with disabilities.

'They have no idea how much they empowered me that day'

Purnell learned early she needed to be a leader in her community in an effort to motivate others. A resident of Green Bay since 2003, she's built relationships despite living in a place she's perceived as a "very gated community" when it comes to equity.

A landmark moment in her activism career came early in her child's diagnosis. She was scheduled to meet with her child's school to discuss his individualized education program, or IEP. An IEP is intended to provide extra support and help to students who have additional learning needs. Purnell was concerned that her son's IEP had been set up for her instead of with her.

In what the school anticipated would be a brief meeting, Purnell was determined to start "at page one" with the group and work their way through the whole program. They broke for lunch, but talking through the program took the entire school day.

"They have no idea how much they empowered me that day," Purnell said. "From that day on, I began educating and advocating for other parents."

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an especially challenging time for people with disabilities, who are more than twice as likely to experience social isolation and loneliness than people without disabilities, and bear the brunt of structural barriers to such needs as employment and transportation.

Members of the state Board for People with Developmental Disabilities heard from residents across Wisconsin loud and clear: Social isolation has been debilitating.

Jenny Neugart, the grassroots community organizer for the board, said the Sparks Grant the past few years has especially focused on isolation and intersectionality, a cultural movement that acknowledges that people of every race, gender, class, sexual orientation and physical ability bring a unique experience of discrimination and oppression to any discussion.

"The social isolation that people with disabilities experience has always been bad, but the pandemic has just really intensified this feeling of isolation that people (with disabilities) have," Neugart said. "(The Sparks Grant) really is focused on ways that communities can be more inclusive, that people with disabilities can know their neighbors and be out and about and feel like they're part of their community."

Purnell has specifically worked to address the disparities felt by Green Bay-area families with disabilities during the pandemic, including guiding many to getting COVID vaccines, Neugart said.

"She does a great job reaching out to diverse families in her community, and she just had some good ideas on her approach to community conversations," said Neugart, who oversees the Sparks Grant and works with its recipients.

How Purnell will use her Sparks grant in Green Bay

Jewelry making may not seem like a form of therapy on the surface, but many organizations concerned with wellness turn to the craft to calm both body and mind. That was Purnell's thinking, too, when she proposed to use some of the grant money toward jewelry making for young people.

It's a way to bond over something tangible and present, in a way that doesn't draw attention to someone's disabilities. And you can take the creation with you, to wear yourself or to give away as a gift to someone special.

"The whole point is to bring them together so they get to see what they have in common versus not," Purnell said. "When you're creating something, when you're focused on creating and you're looking across from you and watching something be created, that's where your mind is. Your mind is not on 'Oh, why is she doing that, why is she saying that?' Your mind is on what's going on in front of you."

Purnell recently finalized a partnership with Urban Cultural Arts at 906 E. Walnut St., where she'll host a six-week jewelry making clubs for 10 to 15 young adults ages 14 to 17 starting in early March. Young people with and without disabilities will have an opportunity to work with beads, string and wire.

"We're gonna talk informally, we're gonna get to know each other, we're gonna have a speaker come in and talk about self-confidence and loving on yourself and putting yourself first and what's important to you, being valuable to yourself," Purnell said.

While she's focused on empowering teenagers through disability discussions and activities, Purnell will turn her attention to three areas she knows are sorely in need of improvement for people with disabilities in Green Bay: employment, recreation and healthy personal relationships.

Purnell doesn't believe that biases against disabled people are necessarily conscious, and so part of her mission is to bring awareness to the public. Employers, for example, may want to hire more people with disabilities, but are afraid of the liability factor. She envisions hosting a panel of business managers who have hired people with disabilities, to speak to fellow employers who are "on the fence about it."

"People get so hung up on disability that they don't even see the abilities anymore," Purnell said.

She is planning to initiate conversations with organizers at United Way of Brown County and the Green Bay Packers Foundation about addressing issues related to employment and inclusive recreation, and she hopes to get other community groups involved soon, too.

Purnell is big on collaboration, because it brings creativity and ingenuity. She'd like to see how the city can come together to get inventive about recreational activities that specifically consider people with disabilities.

"I'm about being creative. I'm about collaboration. I'm about partnering," Purnell said. "No one person can do everything. I don't need all the glory. I just need to have it happen."

She'll be working with We All Rise: African American Resource Center, Green Bay Area Public Schools and Go Girl! Life Coaching, and invites individuals and organizations to help her make Green Bay a more inclusive place for people with disabilities.

Editor's note: Corrections have been made to reflect the number of jewelry-making classes being taught and the organizations collaborating with Purnell's partnership.

Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for USA TODAY NETWORK-Central Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. You can reach her at neilbert@gannett.com or view her Twitter profile at @natalie_eilbert. If you or someone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "Hopeline" to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Disability activist aims for inclusive Green Bay with Sparks grant