JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated 8 graduates of the program’s 2nd associate who got in a new stage 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 look for further education or work in the Johnstown location, stated JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

For the previous 4 months, those registered in the program completed courses provided by a partnership among Penn Highlands, Johnstown Area Regional Industries and PA CareerLink.

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

The curriculum consisted of conflict management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, along with excursion for a robotics bootcamp and trips of technology-based production companies including Kitron and Compass Systems.

The ceremony Friday celebrated 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 method.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (ideal), of the Coopersdale section of Johnstown, celebrates 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, 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 receiving 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 CEO Linda Thomson.

Marie Bradford, referall.us of the Oakhurst area of Johnstown, celebrates during 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 ceremony at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

JARI Workforce Development Director Dave Grimaldi praises 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 progressed to further education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for accreditation in fields including HVAC, emergency medicine and cybersecurity. The program is provided at no charge to participants and finished its first friend in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more friends are set up, Grimaldi said. The was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County website administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the very best ideas we have actually had for discovering quality workers for employers in the location,”Balog stated.”We developed the concept of dealing with our public housing units since lots of people had transport and child care 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 stated the program has assisted individuals”

lift themselves up and get them linked. “He praised the graduates and the collaborators who made the program possible. The program has earned HUD recognition as a finest practice, a recognition provided to one authority yearly for specifically bettering the lives of its citizens, Alberts stated. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from family and good friends in presence, along with 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 former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey contributed in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.