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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 mate who went into a new phase of life Friday.
The ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a clean slate for the graduates, who are set to seek further education or employment in the Johnstown area, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.
For the previous 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 included courses supplied at Johnstown public real estate neighborhood spaces to remove individuals’ transportation barriers.
The curriculum included dispute management, job search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, referall.us and life skills management, along with field trips for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production business consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.
The ceremony Friday commemorated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who registered, but pulled out after finding work or other additional education opportunities along the method.
PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation
Bernice Sanders (ideal), of the Coopersdale area of Johnstown, commemorates 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.
Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale section 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 (right), 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. 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, celebrates 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, applauds the graduates during the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony 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 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 friend have actually progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more friends are arranged, Grimaldi stated. The program was started by previous JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and
PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the very best ideas we’ve had for discovering quality workers for companies in the area,”Balog stated.”We developed the concept of working with our public housing units due to the fact that 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 said the program has assisted individuals”
lift themselves up and get them linked. “He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has made HUD recognition as a best practice, a recognition offered to one authority each year for particularly improving the lives of its homeowners, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from household and friends in participation, along with Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President and agents from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.