JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated eight graduates of the program’s 2nd friend who went into 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 seek more education or work in the Johnstown area, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the past 4 months, those registered in the program completed courses supplied by a partnership amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program consisted of courses supplied at Johnstown public real estate community rooms to get rid of individuals’ transportation barriers.

The curriculum included dispute management, job search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, along with school outing for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based production companies consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.

The ceremony Friday commemorated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who enrolled, but pulled out after discovering employment or other more 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 receiving 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 section of Johnstown, commemorates with graduates after receiving 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.

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

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst area 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 area 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 during 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 associate have progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is provided at no charge to participants and finished its first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more associates are scheduled, Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director employment Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.»This was among the very best concepts we’ve had for discovering quality staff members for companies in the location,»Balog said.»We came up with the idea of working with our public real estate units due to the fact that numerous individuals had transportation and childcare 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 said the program has helped people»

lift themselves up and get them linked. «He praised the and the partners who made the program possible. The program has actually earned HUD acknowledgment as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority each year for specifically bettering the lives of its citizens, employment Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance, along with Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, employment Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and representatives from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s office. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.