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 associate who got in a brand-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 location, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.
For the past 4 months, those enrolled in the program completed by a collaboration among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.
The program consisted of courses supplied at Johnstown public real estate community rooms to get rid of participants’ transportation barriers.
The curriculum consisted of conflict management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, in addition to expedition for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production companies including Kitron and Compass Systems.
The event Friday commemorated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who enrolled, but pulled out after discovering work or other more education chances along the method.
PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation
Bernice Sanders (right), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, commemorates after receiving 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, 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 (best), 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, commemorates throughout 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, 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 employment Township on Friday, employment January 31, 2025.
JARI Workforce Development Director Dave Grimaldi praises the individuals finishing 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 employment of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi said members of the program’s second associate have actually advanced to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to participants and finished its very first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more friends are set up, Grimaldi said. 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 best concepts we’ve had for finding quality staff members for employers in the location,”Balog stated.”We created the concept of working with our public housing units due to the fact that lots of people had transport and childcare 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 stated the program has helped individuals”
lift themselves up and get them linked. “He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD recognition as a best practice, an acknowledgment provided to one authority yearly for especially bettering the lives of its homeowners, Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family 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 office. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.
