![\"Norah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770252251_460_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nKelly and Krista Carey were at a loss after their daughter, Norah, aged out of high school last year.<\/p>\n
Norah Carey, 22, has Down syndrome. She was despondent without having daily social interactions and being removed from her community at school, her parents said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Norah Carey works at Coffee Inclusive in Pittston. It’s a cafe that employs people with disabilities.<\/p>\n
After some research, they found Coffee Inclusive<\/a> as their answer. It\u2019s a Pittston-based cafe that employs people with disabilities and is part of the greater PA Inclusive <\/a>network.<\/p>\n Kelly Carey said his daughter thrives at Coffee Inclusive, but her new job posed a challenge.<\/p>\n Norah Carey could lose her Social Security benefits <\/a>if she has more than $2,000 in her bank account.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was really the start of us having to think about, \u2018Geez, she’s going to have an income coming in. She’s going to have money. We got to figure out what to do with this,\u2019\u201d Kelly Carey said.<\/p>\n Norah Carey\u2019s parents opened a PA Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account<\/a> for their daughter. The program, which is available as of this year to people whose disability started before age 46, protects Pennsylvanians’ Social Security benefits. Before 2026, the age of onset limit was before age 26.<\/p>\n PA ABLE allows people with disabilities to save up to $19,000 a year and up to $100,000 without affecting their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) as of 2026.<\/p>\n People can spend their ABLE funds on qualified expenses such as education, transportation and housing. The PA ABLE website has a broad list of qualified expenses<\/a>, which do not need to be \u201cmedically necessary\u201d or for the sole benefit of the account holder.<\/p>\n Norah Carey\u2019s PA ABLE account allows her to work and save money<\/p>\n Norah Carey and her family live in Newton Township, Lackawanna County. The 22-year-old said she loves to work in Coffee Inclusive\u2019s bakery where they make a mountain of cookies and she prepares her favorite drinks in the cafe.<\/p>\n \u201cI like iced coffee \u2026 I love them. I like matcha [lattes,]” she said.<\/p>\n Norah Carey volunteers at the Abington Community Library in Lackawanna County.<\/p>\n She also cleans, stocks the cafe and talks to customers. Outside of work, Norah Carey volunteers at Abington Community Library.<\/p>\n Her parents helped her answer questions about what she hopes to spend her money on in the future. Her top choice: cooking classes.<\/p>\n She wants to learn to make fancier foods than cereal or grilled cheese that is usually taught in vocational classes for people with disabilities, her mother said.<\/p>\n Krista Carey hopes her daughter will use her savings to find classes that train her in various skills so she has more options for future jobs.<\/p>\n Hunter Polishan\u2019s PA ABLE account gives his mom \u2018peace of mind\u2019<\/p>\n Hunter Polishan has autism and lives with his family, including his mom, Roseann Polishan. She joked Hunter works part-time at Dino & Francesco’s Pizza and Pasta House in Clarks Summit to \u201cmaintain his lifestyle\u201d and go out with friends.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Roseann Polishan<\/p>\n Hunter Polishan works at a Dino & Francesco’s Pizza and Pasta House in Clarks Summit.<\/p>\n \u201cHe can’t maintain a full-time job, but he’s able to earn a little bit of spending money. And he’s feeling like he’s contributing,\u201d Roseann Polishan said.<\/p>\n At 21, Hunter Polishan keeps busy at Dino\u2019s where he prepares the kitchen for services. Every morning, he goes to his local YMCA where he swims and on every Tuesday night, he goes bowling with friends.<\/p>\n But his favorite activity? Dancing.<\/p>\n \u201cI have fun,\u201d he said excitedly. \u201cYeah, I like it. It\u2019s so fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Hunter Polishan and his mom spoke with WVIA while sitting at The Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania<\/a>. The center provides educational services and advocates for the interests of children and adults with intellectual disabilities.<\/p>\n Roseann Polishan, who works as a lead advocate with The Arc, said she was relieved when PA ABLE started back in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many people, you know, they’re not able to save money if they’re on SSI (Supplemental Security Income). The income and the asset limits are so low, and they’re \u2026 always living in poverty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just gives you a peace of mind that \u2026 if you’re not here in the future, if added expenses come up, that you’ll have that money to draw on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Roseann Polishan<\/p>\n Hunter Polishan rakes leaves as he volunteers in his community.<\/p>\n She first became interested in advocacy after her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople with disabilities \u2026 should have the same rights as any other person. But you know, sometimes, due to their intellectual disability or something else that’s affecting them \u2026 they need support to make decisions,” she said. “In many cases, without someone in their corner to advocate or assist them, people with intellectual disabilities face exploitation or could be taken advantage of.”<\/p>\n She said the ABLE program helps people with disabilities as it allows them to save money like how others can save more easily toward higher education or retirement.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, there’s an option for people with significant disabilities to be able to save money,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sara Wolff helps people with disabilities advocate for themselves<\/p>\n Like Roseann Polishan, Sara Wolff advocates for Pennsylvanians with disabilities because of her personal experience.<\/p>\n However, she is a PA ABLE user herself. Wolff has Down syndrome and is an independent living\/self-advocacy specialist with MyCIL Center for Independent Living in Scranton.<\/a> The center connects people with disabilities to resources and claims that 51% of its employees have disabilities themselves.<\/p>\n In 2014, Wolff advocated for the federal ABLE Act, which Pennsylvania\u2019s program is based on, to be enacted into law. She created an online petition in support of the act, which gained more than a quarter of a million supporters and worked alongside Former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Scranton) to make the bill a reality.<\/a><\/p>\n Isabela Weiss | WVIA News | Report for America<\/p>\n Sara Wolff sits at her desk at MyCIL Centers for Independent Living in Scranton. She works as an independent living\/self-advocacy specialist for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n PA ABLE gives Pennsylvanians with disabilities power over their futures, Wolff said in an interview at MyCIL.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that people with disabilities use for saving money for things like transportation, housing, school, everyday life expenses,\u201d Wolff said.<\/p>\n PA ABLE protects people with disabilities from losing their benefits because of their income, she said.<\/p>\n Wolff helps people advocate for themselves and bring their concerns to lawmakers.<\/p>\n \u201cI help them with how to speak up for themselves, how to share their story to people, especially for politics \u2026 I help them talk to their legislators,\u201d Wolff said.<\/p>\n She said she is thrilled to see PA ABLE become more accessible to people with the recent change in the age of onset for eligibility, but hopes the program will expand to a wider age range and to other countries.<\/p>\n Wolff had a central message. People who use PA ABLE are like anyone else \u2014 disabled or not disabled.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want to save money for things that other people have, and it’s cool to see that other people have those resources. People with disabilities sometimes have resources, but some people don’t. And when I grew up, I didn\u2019t have programs and services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, I’m an adult. I’m going to be 43 in a couple of days, so I don’t have a whole lot of programs and services for me. But I say for the people who do have those, just keep going [and] don\u2019t get discouraged,\u201d Wolff said.<\/p>\n People with disabilities and their families want more resources on PA ABLE<\/p>\n Pennsylvania\u2019s ABLE program started about nine years ago. It still has a long way to go.<\/p>\n Krista and Kelly Carey both work as educators. Both did not know anything about PA ABLE until after Norah Carey aged out of high school.<\/p>\n Norah Carey takes orders at Coffee Inclusive in Pittston. It’s a cafe that employs Pennsylvanians with disabilities.<\/p>\n Kelly Carey said he wishes PA ABLE was brought up during his child\u2019s Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Schools hold IEP meetings for parents to talk with school therapists, teachers and other people involved in their child\u2019s care.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were able to find it (PA ABLE) because we’re in education. We were out looking and trying to figure these things out. I’m not sure everyone has that benefit. And sometimes the only time you get to talk to folks who are knowledgeable about things that can help your kids are at those IEP meetings \u2026 But OVR (Office of Vocational Rehabilitation) only goes so far. And we need to find other resources that might be helpful for the future,\u201d Kelly Carey said.<\/p>\n He also said he \u201ccould not say enough\u201d about how much he appreciates the Pennsylvania Treasury Department\u2019s PA ABLE phone operators for their help to make the program run as smoothly as possible. Parents, caregivers and ABLE account holders do not have to figure out how to navigate the program alone.<\/p>\n \u201cFolks [need to] just realize they can be scared about setting up their kid’s account. They don’t know \u2026 exactly what they’re doing. And the state really has some great folks that are willing to be patient and help you through,\u201d Kelly Carey said.<\/p>\n For more information on PA ABLE, you can find webinars and more on the PA ABLE website.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Norah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770252251_594_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Hunter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770252251_771_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Hunter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770252251_387_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Sara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770252252_178_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Norah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770252252_134_.jpeg\"\/)
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