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 cohort who got in a new phase of life Friday.

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

For employment the past 4 months, those registered in the program completed courses offered by a partnership among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program consisted of courses supplied at Johnstown public housing neighborhood spaces to get rid of participants’ transport barriers.

The curriculum consisted of dispute management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, along with sightseeing tour for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production business consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.

The event Friday celebrated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who enrolled, but pulled out after discovering employment or other additional education chances along the method.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (ideal), of the Coopersdale section 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, celebrates with graduates after getting 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 (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, of the 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, 2025.

Dellia Gonzalez, of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, with her daughter Dakota Marong, 3, praises the graduates throughout 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 employment Dave Grimaldi congratulates the participants completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program during 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 accomplice have actually advanced to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for certification in fields including HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to participants and finished its very first mate in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more friends are set up, Grimaldi stated. The program was started by previous JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the finest ideas we’ve had for discovering quality employees for companies in the location,”Balog said.”We came up with the concept of working with our public housing units because many individuals had transportation and child care 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 Michael Horvath stated the program has actually assisted people”

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 employment specifically bettering the lives of its locals, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from household and good friends in participation, as well as Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and representatives from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.