JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-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 clean slate for the graduates, who are set to look for more education or employment in the Johnstown area, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the previous four months, those registered in the program finished courses provided by a partnership among 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’ transportation barriers.

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

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

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (best), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, employment commemorates after getting 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.

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 ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

RJ Montague (ideal), 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 event 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 area of Johnstown, celebrates during the Johnstown Housing & Training Program graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, employment 2025.

Dellia Gonzalez, employment of the Oakhurst area of Johnstown, with her child Dakota Marong, employment 3, applauds 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 praises the individuals finishing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program during a graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland employment Township on Friday, January 31, employment 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 additional education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is provided at no charge to individuals and graduated its very first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more accomplices are scheduled, Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator employment Jeff Dick.”This was among the finest concepts we’ve had for finding quality workers for employers in the location,”Balog said.”We came up with the concept of dealing with our public housing systems because lots of people had transport 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 said the program has helped people”

lift themselves up and get them connected. “He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has made HUD acknowledgment as a best practice, a recognition offered to one authority annually for especially bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in participation, along with Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and agents from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s office. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were critical in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.