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 mate who got in a new phase of life Friday.

The event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland job Township marked a clean slate for the graduates, who are set to look for more education or work in the Johnstown area, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

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

The program included courses supplied at Johnstown public real estate community rooms to remove individuals' transportation barriers.

The curriculum consisted of conflict management, job search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, along with school outing 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 dozens more who registered, but pulled out after discovering work or other further education opportunities along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

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

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 (ideal), of Johnstown, shakes hands with Johnstown Housing Authority (JHA) Executive Director Mike Alberts (center) while getting their Certificate of Completion throughout 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 daughter Dakota Marong, 3, applauds the graduates throughout the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation event at Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

JARI Workforce Development Director job Dave Grimaldi praises the individuals completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program throughout a graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland job 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 progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its first friend in June. After Friday's graduation, two more mates are scheduled, Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by previous JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick."This was among the very best concepts we've had for discovering quality employees for companies in the area,"Balog stated."We created the idea of dealing with our public real estate systems due to the fact that many individuals 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 said the program has actually assisted people"

lift themselves up and get them connected. "He congratulated the graduates and job the partners who made the program possible. The program has made HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, a recognition offered to one authority each year for particularly improving the lives of its locals, Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from family and pals in presence, in addition to Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and representatives from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman's workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were important in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.