JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the 2nd accomplice who entered a brand-new stage of life Friday.

The event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a new beginning for the graduates, who are set to seek more education or employment in the Johnstown location, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the previous four months, those enrolled in the program finished courses provided 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 remove participants’ transportation barriers.

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

The event Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who enrolled, but decided out after discovering employment or other more education chances along the method.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (best), of the Coopersdale area of Johnstown, celebrates 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.

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

RJ Montague (best), 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 event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, [empty] 2025. Searching, 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 throughout 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 event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

JARI Workforce Development Director Dave Grimaldi congratulates the participants finishing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program during a graduation ceremony 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 second cohort have actually progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for certification in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to participants and finished its first friend in June. After Friday’s graduation, horizonsmaroc.com 2 more cohorts are arranged, Grimaldi stated. The program was started by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the finest concepts we have actually had for discovering quality employees for companies in the area,”Balog stated.”We developed the concept of dealing with our public real estate systems because lots of people had transport and child care barriers that kept them from accessing resources outside of Johnstown’s public housing.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath said the program has actually helped people”

lift themselves up and get them linked. “He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has earned HUD recognition as a finest practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority each year for specifically improving the lives of its locals, Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance, [empty] as well as Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and agents from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were critical in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.