Sue Viecelli has always felt a little like her brother’s keeper — it’s a role she relishes.

Since her father died in 1983, she has been Mark Weston’s only family, and the only person he could rely on to find him a place to live and work.

“I can’t live without her,” Weston said.

Weston was born with an unknown genetic developmental disability. He works at Clearbrook’s Getz warehouse in Palatine, and lives with five roommates in one of the organization’s group homes, which are integrated into the northwest suburbs.

But it was different growing up, Viecelli said.

People were not as open-minded as they are today, and Weston’s unknown disability sometimes spurred fear in her neighbors, she said.

In one of the worst instances, when living in Prospect Heights, neighbors circulated a petition demanding the family move away.

“I became very protective of him,” she said.

She refused to let her parents take him to an institutional facility. Though they grew up together, her brother later moved to North Carolina with her dad after their mother died. When their father died, she made it clear to her stepmother that she would take care of Weston.

“My parents never really put any pressure on me to pick up the gauntlet, so to speak,” Viecelli said. “But now, it’s just the two of us.”

She moved him from North Carolina to Arlington Heights where she lives with her family. It took a while to get housing with Arlington Heights-based Clearbrook and the funding they needed for him to stay there, but he’s since settled in.

“I wanted him to live in the environment he grew up in,” Viecelli said. “It doesn’t have to be luxurious, just middle class.”

Viecelli, in turn, has become extremely involved in her brother’s life at Clearbrook. She’s gotten to know his roommates and their families. She’s worked at the organization’s weekly Bingo Night. And she’s been helping organize a wine tasting event for the past decade.

She’s dedicated not only to her brother, but to Clearbrook’s cause, because their group homes and employment services program have offered him a chance to be normal.

“I wish my parents could see how happy and settled and normal and independent he is,” she said.

Clearbrook’s employment program’s goal is to train clients so they are seen for their abilities, not their disabilities.

The employment services program coaches Clearbrook’s clients on work, connects them with potential employers and employs them doing various tasks inside its warehouse – ranging from shredding documents for its document destruction services, to preparing boxes for a chocolate company’s Valentine’s Days orders.

“There’s unlimited possibilities,” said Gloria Drake, the vice president of communications and special events at Clearbrook. “They can’t do everything, but they can do an awful lot of things. They want to be out in the community. That’s where the world is going.”

The Grapevine of Friends Wine Tasting event that Viecelli helps plan benefits the employment services program, netting about $50,000 to $60,000 each year. With more than 40 percent of Clearbrook’s costs coming from private donations, it’s a necessary boost and a way to honor the companies that employ their clients, Drake said.

The event takes place at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Stonegate Conference and Banquet Centre, 2401 W. Higgins Road in Hoffman Estates.

It will feature tastings of 66 different wines, a Pisco Sour cocktail room, Latin-themed food, a band, auction and presentation from a representative of Mariano’s, who will speak about the company’s experience hiring Clearbrook clients.

Tickets cost $100 with proceeds benefiting Clearbrook’s employment services program. For information, contact Alla Ioffe at 847-385-5009.