The Brothers Project
“It takes the same effort to believe in someone as it does to be skeptical of someone. To believe is to build. Go ahead and build people!”
-Rabbi Yosef Samberg (zt”l”)
The Brothers Project is a charitable fund to help Jeffrey Riebman transition from weekly volunteer work to weekly part-time paid employment. The larger goal is to help other blind and disabled people find work based on their skills and abilities. The Brothers Project is being facilitated through the charitable volunteer organization Yad Yehuda of Greater Washington, a 5013c tax exempt organization. Jeffrey is completely blind from the eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa and he also has Type 1 Diabetes. Jeffrey is very talented in music (guitar) and singing, as well as teaching music to children. Jeffrey has also learned how to teach reading for elementary school. In addition, Jeffrey teaches disability awareness to children of all ages. He is an excellent role model for both children and adults about how to cope with and overcome difficulties in life.
Despite Jeffrey’s intelligence, caring and abilities, his blindness and diabetes have made it difficult for employers to take a chance on hiring him. The Brothers Project removes the risk to the employer by 100% funding the job position. The Brothers Project will allow Jeffrey to work in a positive environment where he can contribute on a weekly basis to his workplace and receive reasonable compensation. The Torah School of Greater Washington agreed to place Jeffrey as a part-time music teacher in the elementary school for the 2019-2020 school year. Since that time Jeffrey has expanded his job by learning how to be an assistant reading teacher for grades K – 5th. Currently, in the 2023-2024 school year Jeffrey is working three full days a week and has 18 small reading groups plus 4 kindergarten music activities every week.
Click Jeff’s Biography / Click Jeff’s Finances