Kelly and Krista Carey were at a loss after their daughter, Norah, aged out of high school last year.
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.
After some research, they found Coffee Inclusive as their answer. It’s a Pittston-based cafe that employs people with disabilities and is part of the greater PA Inclusive network.
Kelly Carey said his daughter thrives at Coffee Inclusive, but her new job posed a challenge.
Norah Carey could lose her Social Security benefits if she has more than $2,000 in her bank account.
“That was really the start of us having to think about, ‘Geez, 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,’” Kelly Carey said.
Norah Carey’s parents opened a PA Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account 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.
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.
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, which do not need to be “medically necessary” or for the sole benefit of the account holder.
Norah Carey’s PA ABLE account allows her to work and save money
Norah Carey and her family live in Newton Township, Lackawanna County. The 22-year-old said she loves to work in Coffee Inclusive’s bakery where they make a mountain of cookies and she prepares her favorite drinks in the cafe.
“I like iced coffee … I love them. I like matcha [lattes,]" she said.
She also cleans, stocks the cafe and talks to customers. Outside of work, Norah Carey volunteers at Abington Community Library.
Her parents helped her answer questions about what she hopes to spend her money on in the future. Her top choice: cooking classes.
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.
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.
Hunter Polishan’s PA ABLE account gives his mom ‘peace of mind’
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 “maintain his lifestyle” and go out with friends.
“He 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,” Roseann Polishan said.
At 21, Hunter Polishan keeps busy at Dino’s 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.
But his favorite activity? Dancing.
“I have fun,” he said excitedly. “Yeah, I like it. It’s so fun.”
Hunter Polishan and his mom spoke with WVIA while sitting at The Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The center provides educational services and advocates for the interests of children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Roseann Polishan, who works as a lead advocate with The Arc, said she was relieved when PA ABLE started back in 2017.
“So 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 … always living in poverty,” she said.
“It just gives you a peace of mind that … if you're not here in the future, if added expenses come up, that you'll have that money to draw on,” she said.
She first became interested in advocacy after her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2.
“People with disabilities … 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 … 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."
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.
“Now, there's an option for people with significant disabilities to be able to save money,” she said.
Sara Wolff helps people with disabilities advocate for themselves
Like Roseann Polishan, Sara Wolff advocates for Pennsylvanians with disabilities because of her personal experience.
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. The center connects people with disabilities to resources and claims that 51% of its employees have disabilities themselves.
In 2014, Wolff advocated for the federal ABLE Act, which Pennsylvania’s 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.
PA ABLE gives Pennsylvanians with disabilities power over their futures, Wolff said in an interview at MyCIL.
“It’s something that people with disabilities use for saving money for things like transportation, housing, school, everyday life expenses,” Wolff said.
PA ABLE protects people with disabilities from losing their benefits because of their income, she said.
Wolff helps people advocate for themselves and bring their concerns to lawmakers.
“I help them with how to speak up for themselves, how to share their story to people, especially for politics … I help them talk to their legislators,” Wolff said.
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.
Wolff had a central message. People who use PA ABLE are like anyone else — disabled or not disabled.
“They 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’t have programs and services,” she said.
“Now, 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’t get discouraged,” Wolff said.
People with disabilities and their families want more resources on PA ABLE
Pennsylvania’s ABLE program started about nine years ago. It still has a long way to go.
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.
Kelly Carey said he wishes PA ABLE was brought up during his child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Schools hold IEP meetings for parents to talk with school therapists, teachers and other people involved in their child’s care.
“We 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 … But OVR (Office of Vocational Rehabilitation) only goes so far. And we need to find other resources that might be helpful for the future,” Kelly Carey said.
He also said he “could not say enough” about how much he appreciates the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s 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.
“Folks [need to] just realize they can be scared about setting up their kid's account. They don't know … exactly what they're doing. And the state really has some great folks that are willing to be patient and help you through,” Kelly Carey said.
For more information on PA ABLE, you can find webinars and more on the PA ABLE website.
Above all else, Wolff said she wanted people with disabilities to take one message.
“Advocate for yourself,” Wolff said.
