JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and [empty] Training Program commemorated eight graduates of the program’s 2nd cohort who entered a new stage 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 employment in the Johnstown area, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the past four months, those registered in the program completed courses supplied 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 spaces to eliminate individuals’ transportation barriers.

The curriculum included dispute management, job search and MATURE OFFICE PORN & SEX PICTURES interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, along with expedition for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based manufacturing companies consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.

The event Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who enrolled, but chose out after discovering employment or other additional education chances along the method.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (best), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, commemorates 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, https://cn.wejob.info/employer/internship/ 2025.

Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale section of Johnstown, celebrates with graduates after getting 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 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, 2025. Looking on, from left to right, is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and JARI President and https://www.opad.biz/employer/jobsinsidcul/ CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, of the 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, 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 congratulates the participants completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program throughout a graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi said members of the program’s 2nd associate have actually advanced to further education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for certification in fields including HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is provided at no charge to participants and finished its very first cohort in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more accomplices are scheduled, 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 one of the best ideas we’ve had for discovering quality workers for companies in the area,”Balog stated.”We came up with the idea of working with our public real estate units due to the fact that lots of people had transportation and kid care barriers that kept them from accessing resources outside of Johnstown’s public housing.” U.S. Department of Housing and sowjobs.com Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath said the program has actually helped individuals”

lift themselves up and get them connected. “He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has made HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, an acknowledgment provided to one authority every year for particularly bettering the lives of its homeowners, Alberts said. The graduates got certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in presence, along with Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and agents from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.