JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates
The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s second mate who went into 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 seek additional education or employment in the Johnstown location, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.
For the past four months, those enrolled in the program completed courses supplied by a partnership among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.
The program consisted of courses provided at Johnstown public housing neighborhood rooms to remove participants‘ transport barriers.
The curriculum consisted of dispute management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, in addition to excursion for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based manufacturing business including Kitron and Compass Systems.
The event Friday celebrated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who enrolled, but pulled out after finding work or other further along the method.
PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation
Bernice Sanders (best), 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), of the Dale area of Johnstown, celebrates 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 (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 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 & Training Program graduation event 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, applauds the graduates throughout 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 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 said members of the program’s second cohort have progressed to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to participants and graduated its very first friend in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more accomplices are set up, 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 one of the very best concepts we’ve had for finding quality workers for employers in the area,“Balog said.“We came up with the idea of working with our public real estate systems because many individuals 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 assisted people“
raise themselves up and get them linked. „He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually earned HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, a recognition offered to one authority yearly for specifically improving the lives of its residents, Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from household and referall.us good friends in presence, 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 previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were crucial in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.