JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates
The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated eight graduates of the program’s 2nd accomplice who entered a new stage of life Friday.
The event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a brand-new start for the graduates, employment who are set to seek more 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 supplied at Johnstown public housing community spaces to eliminate participants’ transportation barriers.
The curriculum consisted of dispute management, job search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, in addition to sightseeing tour for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based manufacturing companies including Kitron and Compass Systems.
The ceremony Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who enrolled, but pulled out after discovering employment or other further education chances along the method.
PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation
Bernice Sanders (ideal), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, celebrates 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, January 31, 2025.
Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale area of Johnstown, celebrates with graduates 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.
RJ Montague (ideal), 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, employment 2025. Searching, from delegated right, employment is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and JARI President and employment CEO Linda Thomson.
Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, celebrates 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 daughter Dakota Marong, 3, praises 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 praises the individuals finishing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program during 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 said members of the program’s second accomplice have advanced to further education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency situation medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its very first cohort in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more mates are set up, Grimaldi said. The program was started by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and
PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the best concepts we have actually had for finding quality employees for employers in the location,”Balog said.”We developed the concept of dealing with our public housing units since 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 and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath stated the program has actually helped people”
raise 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 provided to one authority each year for especially improving the lives of its homeowners, Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from family and pals in participation, 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 previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.