JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

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

The event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a new beginning for the graduates, who are set to seek additional education or work in the Johnstown location, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

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

The program included courses supplied at Johnstown public housing neighborhood spaces to eliminate individuals’ transport barriers.

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

The event Friday celebrated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who registered, but pulled out after discovering employment 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, commemorates after getting her Certificate of Completion throughout the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland starttrainingfirstaid.com.au Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale area of Johnstown, commemorates with graduates 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.

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 delegated right, is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and Car Loan 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, sowjobs.com 2025.

Dellia Gonzalez, of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, Car Loan 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 [empty] Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

JARI Workforce Development Director Dave Grimaldi congratulates the individuals completing 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
[email protected]!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi said members of the program’s 2nd friend 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 offered at no charge to individuals and finished its very first friend in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more cohorts 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 one of the very best concepts we have actually had for finding quality employees for companies in the location,”Balog said.”We created the idea of dealing with our public real estate systems since numerous individuals had transportation and kid 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 helped individuals”

raise themselves up and get them linked. “He congratulated the graduates and working.co.ke the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has earned HUD recognition as a finest practice, a recognition offered to one each year for specifically improving the lives of its citizens, Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in presence, 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 office. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.