JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated eight graduates of the program’s second friend 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 seek further education or work in the Johnstown area, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the previous 4 months, those enrolled in the program completed courses provided by a collaboration among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program included courses supplied at Johnstown public real estate neighborhood spaces to eliminate participants’ transport barriers.

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

The ceremony Friday commemorated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, employment but chose out after discovering employment or other further education opportunities along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (best), of the Coopersdale area 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 area of Johnstown, employment 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 receiving 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. Looking on, from delegated right, is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and JARI President and CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, commemorates 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 section 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 individuals completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program during a graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands 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 2nd mate have progressed to more education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to individuals and finished its first mate in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more accomplices are set up, Grimaldi stated. 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 concepts we have actually had for finding quality employees for employers in the area,”Balog stated.”We created the concept of working with our public housing systems since lots of people had transport and kid care barriers that kept them from accessing resources outside of Johnstown’s public real estate.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath said the program has actually assisted people”

raise themselves up and get them connected. “He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has made HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority each year for particularly bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts stated. 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 representatives from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., employment and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were crucial in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.