JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates
The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated eight 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 dessinateurs-projeteurs.com Township marked a clean slate for the graduates, who are set to seek additional education or work in the Johnstown location, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.
For the previous four months, those registered in the program completed courses offered by a partnership among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.
The program included courses provided at Johnstown public housing neighborhood rooms to eliminate individuals’ transportation barriers.
The curriculum consisted of dispute management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, in addition to excursion for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production business consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.
The event Friday celebrated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, but pulled out after discovering employment or other further education opportunities along the method.
PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation
Bernice Sanders (right), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, celebrates 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.
Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale area 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, [empty] 2025.
RJ Montague (best), 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 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, [empty] 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 section of Johnstown, Johnstown Housing 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 individuals completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program throughout a graduation ceremony 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 progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to participants and graduated its very first accomplice in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more friends are scheduled, Grimaldi stated. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Debra Balog and
PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the best ideas we’ve had for discovering quality staff members for employers in the location,”Balog said.”We came up with the concept of working with our public housing systems because lots of people had transport and childcare barriers that kept them from accessing resources outside of Johnstown’s public housing.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath said the program has assisted people”
raise themselves up and get them connected. “He congratulated the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has earned HUD acknowledgment as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority each year for specifically bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance, linked web site 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., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were important in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.
