JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates
The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s 2nd friend who got in a brand-new phase of life Friday.
The ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands College in Richland Township marked a clean slate for the graduates, who are set to seek additional education or employment in the Johnstown location, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.
For the past four months, those enrolled in the program completed courses provided by a collaboration amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.
The program included courses supplied at Johnstown public housing community spaces to remove individuals’ transport barriers.
The curriculum consisted of dispute management, task search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, in addition to excursion for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based production companies consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.
The event Friday celebrated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who enrolled, but pulled out after discovering work or other more education chances along the method.
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 throughout 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), of the Dale section of Johnstown, 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 (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. Searching, from delegated right, is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and JARI President and CEO Linda Thomson.
Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst area of Johnstown, commemorates throughout the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation event 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 ceremony 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 stated members of the program’s 2nd friend have progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medication and cybersecurity. The program is provided at no charge to individuals and finished its very first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more accomplices are arranged, Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and
PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the finest ideas we have actually had for discovering quality staff members for companies in the location,”Balog said.”We created the idea of dealing with our public real estate units because many individuals had transport 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 stated the program has actually helped individuals”
lift 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 especially improving the lives of its citizens, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and referall.us a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance, in addition to 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.