JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s second accomplice who went into a brand-new stage of life Friday.

The event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a brand-new start for the graduates, who are set to seek more education or work in the Johnstown location, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the previous four months, those enrolled in the program completed courses supplied by a collaboration among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program consisted of courses provided at Johnstown public real estate community rooms to eliminate individuals’ transport barriers.

The curriculum included conflict management, job search and interview skills, horizonsmaroc.com Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, as well as excursion for supremecarelink.com a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based production business 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 Car Loan other further education chances along the method.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (best), studentvolunteers.us of the Coopersdale area 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 section of Johnstown, careerworksource.org celebrates with graduates 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.

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 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, career.finixia.in 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, of the Oakhurst area of Johnstown, with her child 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 praises the participants completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program during a graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, jobteck.com 2025.

By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi said members of the program’s second accomplice have actually progressed to further education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medicine and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its first accomplice in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more cohorts are arranged, Grimaldi stated. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the very best concepts we have actually had for discovering quality employees for employers in the area,”Balog stated.”We developed the concept of working with our public housing systems because many individuals 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 stated the program has assisted people”

raise themselves up and get them linked. “He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD recognition as a finest practice, an acknowledgment provided to one authority each year for particularly bettering the lives of its homeowners, Alberts stated. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from family and pals in presence, in addition to 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 previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.