Five years ago, Michelle Gonzales worked at a gasket factory in Chicago. She says she struggled to support herself and her son, even with a housing voucher that helped pay the rent.

Today, Gonzales has a job at the Chicago Transit Authority; she's saving for her son's college education, and she's got money in the bank for a home of her own.

Gonzales is among 18 people who graduated yesterday from the Chicago Housing Authority's Family Self-Sufficiency initiative.

Officials say the five-year program helps participants achieve financial independence by identifying their career goals, repairing or establishing their credit records, and helping them save for a home, education or business.

Federal officials started the program in 1990 as part of the National Affordable Housing Act. It succeeds previous initiatives such as Project Self-Sufficiency and Operation Bootstrap.

"These folks have learned a lesson: that they can accomplish what they set their goals to be," says Paul Sublewski, director of support services at the authority's housing-voucher program. "They're going to keep on going. They're not just going to stop there."

The housing authority markets the program to about 37,000 Chicago residents with federal housing vouchers, and no more than 1,500 participants may be enrolled at one time.

Sublewski says joining is voluntary, free and limited by federal funding. According to federal guidelines, the housing authority must randomly select at least half of all applicants. Others may be chosen based on their or their family members' participation in similar programs.

Of those who participate, about 65 percent drop out, officials say.

Those who stick with it get free money, plus interest, to change their lives.

Normally, participants in the federal housing-voucher program, also known as Section 8, must reserve about 30 percent of their income for rent. As their incomes grow, so does the amount they pay to their landlords. The progression allows the government to pay less and less of their rent.

Under the Family Self-Sufficiency program, the government matches the rise in rental payments and saves it in escrow for when participants graduate. Over five years, case workers help them find better-paying jobs, and as their rental payments rise accordingly, so do their savings.

"They can use that money to buy a house, start a business, get an education," Sublewski says. "Once they get the check, it's their money."

If participants drop out, they forfeit the savings. Over the program's five years, case workers also help participants fix their credit and learn more about becoming financially independent.

Since the Chicago program began, 608 graduates have saved $5.6 million, and 107 are now homeowners, according to authority figures. Officials say at least one graduate went on to pursue a doctorate.

Those who finished the program yesterday saved an average of $7,921.14 in escrow, and they almost tripled their salaries — to $32,750.39 from $11,872.33, on average — while enrolled. Three of them are already homeowners.

Gonzales, 39, says the program sped her ability to fulfill her financial goals.

"It motivated me," Gonzales says. "It made me focus more on my career, and it made me become a better person."