JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates
The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated 8 graduates of the program’s second friend who got in a new phase of life Friday.
The event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a brand-new beginning for the graduates, who are set to look for more education or work in the Johnstown area, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.
For the past four months, those enrolled in the program completed courses provided by a partnership amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.
The program consisted of courses provided at Johnstown public real estate neighborhood rooms to get rid of participants’ transportation barriers.
The curriculum included dispute management, job search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, as well as expedition for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based manufacturing companies consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.
The ceremony Friday celebrated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, but pulled out after discovering work 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, celebrates 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.
Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale area of Johnstown, celebrates with graduates 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.
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 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 event 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, 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 congratulates the participants completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program throughout a graduation event 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 second accomplice have actually advanced to further education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to participants and finished its first accomplice in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more friends are arranged, Grimaldi stated. The program was started 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’ve had for finding quality staff members for companies in the area,”Balog stated.”We came up with the concept of dealing with our public real estate units because numerous people had transport and childcare barriers that kept them from accessing resources beyond Johnstown’s public real estate.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director referall.us Michael Horvath said the program has assisted people”
lift themselves up and get them connected. “He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD recognition as a finest practice, an acknowledgment provided to one authority annually for particularly improving the lives of its citizens, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance, 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 former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.