JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated eight graduates of the program’s second associate who entered 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 look for employment more education or employment work in the Johnstown location, employment said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

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

The program included courses supplied at Johnstown public housing community spaces to get rid of participants’ transport barriers.

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

The ceremony Friday commemorated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, however pulled out after finding employment or other additional education opportunities along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (ideal), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, commemorates after getting her Certificate of Completion during 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 section of Johnstown, 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 ceremony 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 area of Johnstown, commemorates 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 individuals finishing 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 stated members of the program’s 2nd accomplice have actually advanced to additional education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for certification in fields including HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to participants and graduated its very first accomplice in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more accomplices are set up, Grimaldi stated. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the very best ideas we’ve had for finding quality employees for companies in the location,”Balog said.”We came up with the concept of working with our public housing units since 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 said the program has assisted people”

raise themselves up and get them connected. “He praised the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has actually earned HUD recognition as a finest practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority annually for particularly bettering the lives of its residents, employment Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in participation, as well as Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and agents from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were critical in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.