JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s 2nd mate who entered a 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 additional education or employment in the Johnstown location, https://studentvolunteers.us/employer/localjobs said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

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

The program consisted of courses offered at Johnstown public housing community spaces to get rid of participants’ transport barriers.

The curriculum consisted of dispute management, job search and career.ltu.bg interview skills, Microsoft Word and akrs.ae Excel, and life abilities management, in addition to school trip for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based production business including Kitron and 24-Hour Loan Compass Systems.

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

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (right), linked web site of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, celebrates after receiving 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, 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, 2025.

RJ Montague (right), 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 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 section 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 event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

JARI Workforce Development Director Dave Grimaldi praises the participants completing 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 said members of the program’s second accomplice have advanced to additional education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is provided at no charge to participants and finished its very first mate in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more mates are set up, Grimaldi stated. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the very best ideas we have actually had for finding quality workers for employers in the location,”Balog said.”We came up with the idea of dealing with our public housing units since many individuals had transportation and kid care barriers that kept them from accessing resources beyond Johnstown’s public housing.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath stated the program has helped people”

lift themselves up and get them connected. “He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually earned HUD acknowledgment as a best practice, a recognition offered to one authority yearly for especially bettering the lives of its homeowners, Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from family and pals in participation, in addition to 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 former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were important in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.