JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s second mate who got in a 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 look for additional education or work in the Johnstown location, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the previous 4 months, those registered in the program finished courses supplied by a collaboration among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program included courses supplied at Johnstown public housing community rooms to eliminate individuals’ transport barriers.

The curriculum consisted of dispute management, job search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, along with field journeys 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 decided out after finding employment or other additional education chances along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (ideal), of the Coopersdale area of Johnstown, celebrates after receiving 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, celebrates 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 (right), of Johnstown, shakes hands with Johnstown Housing Authority (JHA) Executive Director Mike Alberts (center) while receiving their Certificate of Completion during the & Training Program graduation event 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 jobs.quvah.com CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, commemorates throughout 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 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 participants completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program throughout a graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, sbstaffing4all.com 2025.

By Thomas Slusser
ts******@tr*****.com!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi stated members of the program’s 2nd cohort have actually progressed to additional education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for certification in fields including HVAC, emergency medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its very first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more friends are scheduled, Grimaldi stated. The program was initiated by previous JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the finest ideas we’ve had for finding quality employees for companies in the area,”Balog said.”We developed the idea of working with our public housing units due to the fact that lots of people had transport and child care barriers that kept them from accessing resources beyond Johnstown’s public housing.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath said the program has helped individuals”

lift themselves up and get them connected. “He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually earned HUD recognition as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority annually for particularly improving the lives of its homeowners, topdubaijobs.ae Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in participation, 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 workplace. Fetterman, career.agricodeexpo.org D-Pa., Loan for Housewives and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were important in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.