JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program celebrated eight graduates of the program’s second accomplice who got in a new phase of life Friday.

The event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township marked a brand-new beginning 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 4 months, those enrolled in the program finished courses supplied by a partnership amongst Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

The program included courses provided at Johnstown public real estate neighborhood spaces to get rid of individuals’ transportation barriers.

The curriculum included conflict management, job search and interview skills, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life abilities management, along with excursion for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production business consisting of Kitron and grainfather.eu Compass Systems.

The event Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who enrolled, however pulled out after discovering work or other further along the method.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (right), 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, 2025.

Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale area of Johnstown, celebrates 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 (ideal), of Johnstown, shakes hands with Johnstown Housing Authority (JHA) Executive Director Mike Alberts (center) while getting 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. 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, Horny-Office-Babes commemorates throughout the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program graduation ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, MATURE OFFICE PORN & SEX PICTURES 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 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 second cohort have actually advanced to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and finished its first associate in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more accomplices are set up, [empty] Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator Jeff Dick.”This was among the finest concepts we’ve had for discovering quality employees for employers in the location,”Balog said.”We created the concept of dealing with our public real estate systems due to the fact that lots of people had transport and child care barriers that kept them from accessing resources outside of 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”

raise themselves up and get them connected. “He congratulated the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has actually made HUD acknowledgment as a best practice, a recognition offered to one authority every year for particularly bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance, 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 workplace. Fetterman, D-Pa., and previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were crucial in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson stated.