JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated eight graduates of the program’s second friend who went into a new stage of life Friday.

The event at Pennsylvania Highlands College in Richland Township marked a new start for the graduates, who are set to look for further education or work in the Johnstown area, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the past 4 months, those enrolled in the program completed courses supplied by a collaboration among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program consisted of courses provided at Johnstown public housing neighborhood rooms to get rid of individuals’ transport barriers.

The curriculum included dispute management, task search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, along with school trip for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based production business consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.

The ceremony Friday celebrated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, however pulled out after finding employment or other additional education chances along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (ideal), of the Coopersdale area of Johnstown, commemorates after receiving her Certificate of Completion throughout the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, employment January 31, 2025.

Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale section of Johnstown, commemorates with graduates after receiving her Certificate of Completion during the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

RJ Montague (ideal), of Johnstown, shakes hands with Johnstown Housing Authority (JHA) Executive Director Mike Alberts (center) while receiving their Certificate of Completion during the JHA Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025. Searching, from delegated right, is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and JARI President and CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst area of Johnstown, commemorates during the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

Dellia Gonzalez, of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, with her child Dakota Marong, 3, praises the graduates during the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

JARI Workforce Development Director Dave Grimaldi praises the participants finishing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program throughout a graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, employment 2025.

By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi stated members of the program’s 2nd accomplice have actually advanced to further education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for employment accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to individuals and finished its very first friend in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more cohorts are arranged, Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by previous JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the very best ideas we’ve had for finding quality workers for companies in the location,”Balog said.”We created the concept of dealing with our public housing units due to the fact that lots of people had transport and kid care barriers that kept them from accessing resources beyond Johnstown’s public real estate.” U.S. Department of Housing and employment Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath said the program has actually helped people”

lift themselves up and get them connected. “He congratulated the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, a recognition offered to one authority every year for specifically bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance, employment along with Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and representatives from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s office. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were important in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.