JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates
The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated eight graduates of the program’s 2nd mate who went into a brand-new phase of life Friday.
The event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a new start for the graduates, who are set to look for further education or work in the location, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.
For the past four months, those enrolled in the program finished 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 remove participants’ transportation barriers.
The curriculum consisted of conflict management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, in addition to school trip for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based production business consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.
The ceremony Friday celebrated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, 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 ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.
Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale area of Johnstown, commemorates with graduates 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.
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 ceremony 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, referall.us 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 area of Johnstown, with her child Dakota Marong, 3, applauds 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 praises the participants 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
tslusser@tribdem.com!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi said members of the program’s second accomplice have actually progressed to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is provided at no charge to individuals and finished its first accomplice in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more mates are scheduled, Grimaldi said. 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 finest ideas we have actually had for discovering quality workers for employers in the location,”Balog stated.”We created the concept of working with our public housing systems since many individuals had transportation and child care 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 actually helped people”
raise themselves up and get them linked. “He congratulated the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has actually earned HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority every year for specifically improving the lives of its locals, Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from household and buddies 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 workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.