JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates
The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s 2nd associate who got in a brand-new phase of life Friday.
The ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a clean slate for the graduates, who are set to look for studentvolunteers.us further education or employment in the Johnstown area, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.
For the past four months, those registered in the program finished courses provided by a collaboration amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.
The program included courses provided at Johnstown public housing community spaces to get rid of individuals’ transport barriers.
The curriculum consisted of dispute management, task search and interview abilities, Word and Excel, and life skills management, in addition to field trips for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production companies including Kitron and Compass Systems.
The ceremony Friday commemorated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who enrolled, however pulled out after finding employment or other additional education opportunities along the method.
PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation
Bernice Sanders (ideal), of the Coopersdale area of Johnstown, commemorates 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 section of Johnstown, celebrates with graduates after receiving 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 (right), 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 section 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, praises the graduates throughout 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 individuals 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 said members of the program’s second cohort have actually progressed to further education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its very first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more cohorts are arranged, Grimaldi stated. The program was started by former JARI Workforce Development Director 이지론 Debra Balog and
PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the very best ideas we have actually had for discovering quality workers for employers in the location,”Balog stated.”We came up with the concept of working with our public housing units since numerous people had transportation and childcare 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 assisted individuals”
raise themselves up and get them linked. “He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually earned HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, an acknowledgment provided to one authority annually for thematragroup.in specifically improving the lives of its locals, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and [empty] 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 workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.