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33 Alex Corrales, WHA's current CEO, who also served as project director and project coordinator for ABL. "e Health Founda- tion bridges that gap." To date, more than 400 families have participated in the ABL program. From 2021 to 2024, 55 ABL households were able to move out of public housing. Addition - ally, six ABL households became first-time homebuyers. Initially, those starting the program had a 70% unemployment rate. Aer five years of the program, the numbers reversed, and 70% were employed with 30% engaged in some type of educational endeavor. e program continues to be successful and has become a model for other housing authori - ties across the Commonwealth. "Public housing is supposed to be a step along the way. It should be a step towards a better life," Mr. Mariano said. "e essence of the program was helping people no one else was willing to help. ey needed someone to believe in them. It's all about self-esteem, self-worth." Not only did e Health Foundation provide significant financial support, but its advocacy efforts at the state level also led to system changes that sustain and extend ABL. In July 2014, the legislature approved "An Act to Foster Economic Independence." is bill included a provision that required the Department of Housing and Commu - nity Development (DHCD) to allow the WHA to operate ABL in its state-subsidized housing properties, representing about 20% of its units. In April 2015, DHCD approved the implementation of the work/education requirement. In exchange for the benefits of the ABL program, participants were required to work, attend an educational program, or perform community service for a combined total of 30 hours per week. ey also had to attend specially designed "Life Skills" workshops hosted by partner agencies. In addition, children of parents in the ABL program were required to attend school regularly. In May 2015, ABL was selected by DHCD as an innovative model program to replicate at other housing authorities. In March 2019, the Baker Administration committed nearly $1 million to imple - ment the ABL program in public housing authorities in Gloucester, New Bedford, and Taunton. e funds were intended to help these housing authorities execute the pro- gram for 18 months with an opportunity to renew it for an additional 18 months. e state also continues to fund two Family Life Coaches each year. n Alex Corrales, 2015 "RUBY," AGE 21 Twenty-one-year-old Ruby joined ABL in its early days in February 2012. Highly motivated, she was already working 60 hours a week, but struggled to become a financially independent adult as she raised her four-year-old son. With support, encouragement, and guidance from her family life coach, she graduated from the Correctional Officer's Basic Training Academy and secured a permanent position with the MCI – Framingham. She nearly doubled her annual income, reached maximum rent with the Worcester Housing Authority (WHA), and graduated from ABL with $6,500 in savings and almost $19,000 in escrow. In April 2014, she moved into an apartment in the unassisted housing market. "I'm so glad I joined ABL. The program, especially my family life coach, helped me get to where I am today," she said. "This was a one-of-a- kind program in the country. We tackled some of the barriers people were facing and the results were beyond what we had hoped." Raymond Mariano, former executive director, WHA WHA: Program triples residents working full-time A Better Life also quadruples number in education By Brad Petrishen Telegram & Gazette Staff January 26, 2016 WORCESTER – The Worcester Housing Authority has released new statistics it says shows its A Better Life program has nearly tripled the number of residents with full-time jobs and "virtually quadrupled" the number of residents involved in education or training programs. "Our numbers far exceed anything I had envisioned for this program," Raymond V. Mariano, the agency's executive director, said in a news release. The self-reported statistics cover 154 current and former participants through Dec. 1, 2015, including program graduates and tenants who have moved out of public housing. According to WHA, the statistics show A Better Life has nearly tripled the number of residents employed full-time (from 22.1 percent to 59.7 percent), with total annual wages increasing from $1.1 million to $2.9 million. Full-time employment of those enrolled in the program for more than a year has jumped from 20.9 percent to 65.5 percent, the agency said, with overall employment at 73.4 percent. Additionally, individual annual wages have increased from an average of $17,505 to $25,625. Statistics regarding education show the percent of residents participating in education or training programs has risen from 12.3 to 45.6 percent, WHA said, with nearly half of all participants completing "at least one educational program, certificate program or degree." With respect to finances, the amount participants have put in savings/escrow altogether has increased from $9,676 to $212,855, the agency said. A Better Life graduates have increased personal savings by an average of $6,193 each, WHA said, and reduced personal debt by about 40 percent. Started in 2011 by Mr. Mariano, A Better Life aims to curb intergenerational stays in public housing by requiring one able-bodied, non-senior tenant from eligible households to work or go to school. Tenants who don't fulfill the requirement can be evicted; they are offered a number of support classes and services to assist them. A Better Life currently applies to the roughly 20 percent of WHA tenants who live in state- subsidized housing; the other 80 percent live in housing subsidized by the federal government, which has barred WHA from implementing the program in those units.