JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s second associate who entered a new phase of life Friday.

The ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a clean slate for the graduates, who are set to seek further education or work in the Johnstown area, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the previous 4 months, those registered in the program completed courses supplied by a partnership amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and https://teachersconsultancy.com/employer/147837/jobspk PA CareerLink.

The program included courses provided at Johnstown public housing neighborhood spaces to remove participants’ transportation barriers.

The curriculum consisted of dispute management, task search and abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, as well as excursion for a robotics bootcamp and tours of technology-based manufacturing business including Kitron and Compass Systems.

The event Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who enrolled, but decided out after discovering work or other further education chances along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (best), [empty] of the Coopersdale area of Johnstown, commemorates after receiving 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.

Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale section of Johnstown, commemorates with graduates after receiving 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 (right), [empty] of Johnstown, shakes hands with Johnstown Housing Authority (JHA) Executive Director Mike Alberts (center) while receiving their Certificate of Completion throughout the JHA Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025. Searching, [empty] from left to right, is Pennsylvania Highlands Community College President Steve Nunez and JARI President and https://horizonsmaroc.com CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst area of Johnstown, commemorates 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, praises the graduates throughout 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 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
tslusser@tribdem.com!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi said members of the program’s 2nd accomplice have advanced to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields consisting of HVAC, https://teachersconsultancy.com emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its very first accomplice 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 sowjobs.com Jeff Dick. »This was among the best ideas we’ve had for discovering quality employees for employers in the area, »Balog said. »We came up with the concept of dealing with our public housing systems due to the fact that lots of people had transportation and kid care barriers that kept them from accessing resources beyond Johnstown’s public real estate. » U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Pittsburgh Field Office Director Michael Horvath stated the program has actually assisted people »

lift themselves up and get them linked. « He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually earned HUD acknowledgment as a best practice, an acknowledgment offered to one authority each year for specifically improving the lives of its locals, Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in participation, as well as 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 championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.