JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated 8 graduates of the program’s 2nd mate who got in a new phase of life Friday.

The ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a new beginning for the graduates, who are set to seek more education or work in the Johnstown location, stated JHA Executive Director celest-interim.fr Mike Alberts.

For the previous four months, those registered in the program finished courses supplied by a collaboration among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program included courses offered at Johnstown public housing community spaces to remove individuals’ transport barriers.

The curriculum included conflict management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, [empty] and life skills management, as well as school trip for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based manufacturing business consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.

The event Friday commemorated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, but decided out after discovering employment or other additional education chances along the method.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (right), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, commemorates 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.

Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale area of Johnstown, [empty] commemorates with graduates after receiving 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.

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. Looking on, from left to right, is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and JARI President and teachersconsultancy.com CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst section 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 area of Johnstown, with her daughter Dakota Marong, 3, praises 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 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 https://studentvolunteers.us/employer/stepstage of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi said members of the program’s 2nd mate have progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for certification in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to individuals and graduated its first cohort in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more cohorts are set up, Grimaldi said. The program was started by previous JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the best ideas we’ve had for discovering quality workers for employers in the area,”Balog stated.”We came up with the concept of dealing with our public real estate systems due to the fact that lots of people had transport and childcare barriers that kept them from accessing resources outside of Johnstown’s public housing.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath stated the program has helped people”

lift themselves up and get them linked. “He congratulated the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has made as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority every year for specifically improving the lives of its citizens, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from family and https://teachersconsultancy.com/ friends in participation, along with 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 previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were instrumental in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.