ALBANY — Working families living in homeless shelters will soon be able to save money rather than make required contributions to the shelters.

Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Paterson yesterday introduced a pilot program to help residents with income put shelters behind them and move to new housing.

The program, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn) and Assemblyman Keith Wright (D-Manhattan), is to start in September.

Money currently contributed on a sliding scale to the shelters will instead go into interest-bearing savings accounts.