JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s second friend who entered a new stage 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 more education or work in the Johnstown location, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the past 4 months, those enrolled in the program finished courses supplied by a collaboration among 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 individuals’ transportation .

The curriculum consisted of dispute management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, in addition to school outing for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based manufacturing business consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.

The ceremony Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who enrolled, but pulled out after discovering employment or other additional education opportunities along the method.

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 event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

Jeanne Vandergrift (front), sowjobs.com of the Dale section of Johnstown, commemorates with graduates after getting 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 (best), of Johnstown, shakes hands with Johnstown Housing Authority (JHA) Executive Director Mike Alberts (center) while getting their Certificate of Completion throughout the JHA Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony 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 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 area of Johnstown, with her child Dakota Marong, 3, praises the graduates throughout the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland 이지론 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 ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland celest-interim.fr 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 friend have progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medication and cybersecurity. The program is provided at no charge to participants and graduated its first friend in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more friends are scheduled, Grimaldi stated. The program was started by previous JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the very best ideas we have actually had for finding quality staff members for companies in the location,”Balog stated.”We came up with the concept of working with our public housing systems since lots of people had transport and childcare 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 Michael Horvath said the program has helped people”

lift themselves up and get them connected. “He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD recognition as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority each year for particularly bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in presence, 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 former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.