JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates

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

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

For the previous four months, those registered in the program completed courses supplied by a partnership amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program included courses supplied at Johnstown public real estate neighborhood rooms to get rid of participants’ transport barriers.

The curriculum included conflict management, job search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, as well as excursion for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production companies consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.

The ceremony Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who enrolled, however chose out after finding work or other additional education opportunities along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (right), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, celebrates after getting her Certificate of Completion throughout the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

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

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

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, celebrates during the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

Dellia Gonzalez, of the Oakhurst area of Johnstown, with her daughter Dakota Marong, 3, applauds 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 congratulates the individuals completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program throughout a graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi stated members of the program’s 2nd mate have progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to participants and finished its first cohort in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more accomplices are scheduled, Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the very best ideas we have actually had for discovering quality staff members for companies in the location,”Balog stated.”We developed the idea of working with our public real estate systems due to the fact that many individuals had transport and child care barriers that kept them from accessing resources beyond Johnstown’s public real estate.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director job Michael Horvath said the program has helped people”

raise themselves up and get them linked. “He praised the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has made HUD recognition as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority annually for particularly bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from household and pals in participation, as well as Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and representatives from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.