JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated 8 graduates of the program’s second cohort who went into a brand-new phase of life Friday.

The event at Community College in Richland Township marked a clean slate for the graduates, who are set to seek additional education or employment in the Johnstown area, [empty] stated JHA Executive Director https://studentvolunteers.us/employer/washcareer/ Mike Alberts.

For the previous four months, those enrolled in the program completed courses provided by a collaboration amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program included courses provided at Johnstown public real estate community spaces to remove individuals’ transport barriers.

The curriculum included conflict management, job search and finceptives.com interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, as well as school outing for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production business including Kitron and Compass Systems.

The event Friday celebrated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who enrolled, but chose out after finding employment or other more education opportunities 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), https://studentvolunteers.us/ of the Dale section of Johnstown, celebrates with graduates after receiving her Certificate of Completion during the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland itheadhunter.vn Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

RJ Montague (ideal), 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 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, 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 daughter Dakota Marong, 3, praises 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 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 cohort have progressed to more education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for certification in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its very first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more accomplices are scheduled, Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the finest ideas we have actually had for discovering quality workers for employers in the area,”Balog said.”We developed the idea of dealing with our public housing units since lots of people had transportation and childcare barriers that kept them from accessing resources outside of Johnstown’s public real estate.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath stated 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 acknowledgment as a finest practice, a recognition offered to one authority each year for particularly improving the lives of its locals, Alberts said. The graduates received 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 office. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.