JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates
The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s 2nd cohort who went into a brand-new stage of life Friday.
The ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a new start for the graduates, who are set to look for further education or employment in the Johnstown location, 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 consisted of courses provided at Johnstown public real estate neighborhood spaces to eliminate participants’ transportation barriers.
The curriculum consisted of dispute management, employment task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, along with school outing for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based production companies including Kitron and Compass Systems.
The event Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, but pulled out after discovering employment or other more education opportunities along the way.
PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation
Bernice Sanders (best), of the Coopersdale section 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, employment January 31, 2025.
Jeanne Vandergrift (front), employment 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, 2025.
RJ Montague (ideal), of Johnstown, shakes hands with Johnstown Housing Authority (JHA) Executive Director Mike Alberts (center) while receiving their Certificate of Completion throughout the JHA Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025. Searching, 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, employment of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, with her daughter Dakota Marong, 3, applauds 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 Dave Grimaldi praises 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
[email protected]!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi stated members of the program’s 2nd associate have advanced to further education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to individuals and finished its first cohort in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more accomplices are scheduled, Grimaldi said. The program was started by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and
PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator employment Jeff Dick.”This was one of the very best concepts we have actually had for finding quality workers for companies in the location,”Balog said.”We developed the idea of working with our public housing units because many individuals had transportation 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 stated the program has actually assisted people”
lift themselves up and get them connected. “He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD acknowledgment as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority every year for specifically improving the lives of its residents, Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from family and good friends in participation, as well as Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, employment Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and agents from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.