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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 cohort who got in a new phase of life Friday.

The ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a brand-new beginning for the graduates, who are set to seek further education or employment in the Johnstown location, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the past 4 months, those enrolled in the program finished courses provided by a collaboration amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

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

The curriculum consisted of dispute management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, along with school trip for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based manufacturing business consisting of Kitron and Compass Systems.

The event Friday celebrated the 8 graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who registered, but pulled 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 & 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, 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 throughout 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 CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, of the Oakhurst section of Johnstown, referall.us celebrates 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 section of Johnstown, with her child Dakota Marong, 3, applauds 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 congratulates the individuals completing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program during 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 accomplice have actually progressed to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is supplied at no charge to individuals and graduated its very first cohort in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more associates are set up, Grimaldi stated. The program was started 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 staff members for companies in the location,”Balog said.”We came up with the concept of working with our public real estate systems because many individuals had transportation and childcare 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 stated the program has assisted individuals”

lift themselves up and get them linked. “He praised the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has made HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, an acknowledgment given to one authority every year for especially improving the lives of its residents, Alberts said. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from family and buddies in participation, as well as Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley and representatives from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s office. Fetterman, D-Pa., and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were important in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.