JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 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 brand-new beginning for 24-Hour Loan the graduates, who are set to look for additional education or employment 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 real estate community rooms to remove participants’ transportation barriers.

The curriculum included dispute management, task search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, in addition to expedition for a robotics bootcamp and trips 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 more education opportunities along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (right), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, celebrates after getting 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 section 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 getting 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 left to right, is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and JARI President and CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst area of Johnstown, celebrates during 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 area of Johnstown, with her daughter Dakota Marong, 3, applauds the graduates during the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony 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 during a graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, https://teachersconsultancy.com/employer/147813/spelljob 2025.

By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com!.?.! JARI Director holisticrecruiters.uk of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi stated members of the program’s 2nd cohort have actually progressed to further education at Penn Highlands or other area schools for certification in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and graduated its first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more mates are set up, 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 best ideas we’ve had for discovering quality staff members for companies in the area,”Balog said.”We developed the concept of dealing with our public real estate units since numerous people 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 said the program has helped people”

raise themselves up and get them linked. “He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, a recognition provided to one authority every year for specifically bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts stated. The graduates got 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, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were instrumental in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.