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JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated 8 graduates of the program’s 2nd associate who went into a new stage 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 work in the Johnstown area, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the previous four months, employment those registered in the program completed courses provided by a partnership among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program consisted of courses provided at real estate neighborhood rooms to eliminate participants’ transportation barriers.

The curriculum consisted of conflict management, task search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, in addition to expedition for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production companies including Kitron and Compass Systems.

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

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (best), 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), employment of the Dale area of Johnstown, employment celebrates with graduates after getting 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.

RJ Montague (best), 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 event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland employment 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 throughout 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 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 congratulates the participants finishing 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 stated members of the program’s 2nd cohort have actually advanced to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for certification in fields including HVAC, emergency medication and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to individuals and graduated its first accomplice in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more friends are arranged, Grimaldi stated. The program was started by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the very best ideas we have actually had for discovering quality staff members for companies in the location,”Balog said.”We developed the idea of working with our public housing systems because lots of people had transportation and child 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 assisted individuals”

lift themselves up and get them connected. “He congratulated the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD recognition as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority each year for especially improving the lives of its homeowners, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from family and friends 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 office. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were crucial in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.