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JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Employment and Training Program celebrated eight graduates of the program’s second friend who entered a new stage of life Friday.

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

For the previous four months, those registered in the program finished courses offered 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 get rid of participants’ transportation barriers.

The curriculum consisted of conflict management, task search and interview abilities, Microsoft Word and Excel, and life skills management, in addition to sightseeing tour for a robotics bootcamp and [empty] tours of technology-based manufacturing companies including Kitron and Compass Systems.

The event Friday celebrated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging dozens more who enrolled, but pulled out after finding work or internship.af other further education opportunities along the way.

PHOTO GALLERY|Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program Graduation

Bernice Sanders (best), of the Coopersdale area of Johnstown, celebrates 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.

Jeanne Vandergrift (front), of the Dale area of Johnstown, celebrates with graduates 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.

RJ Montague (best), 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 [empty] Township on Friday, January 31, 2025. Looking on, from delegated 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, 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 individuals finishing 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 cohort have advanced to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for certification in fields consisting of HVAC, emergency situation medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to participants and graduated its very first cohort in June. After Friday’s graduation, 2 more friends are set up, Grimaldi said. The program was initiated by former JARI Workforce Development Director Debra Balog and

PA CareerLink Cambria County site administrator Jeff Dick.”This was one of the finest ideas we’ve had for discovering quality staff members for employers in the area,”Balog stated.”We developed the idea of dealing with our public housing systems due to the fact that lots of individuals had transport and kid care 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 said the program has assisted individuals”

raise themselves up and get them linked. “He praised the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has made HUD recognition as a best practice, a recognition given to one authority yearly for particularly improving the lives of its locals, Alberts said. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance, in addition to 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 previous U.S. Sen. Bob Casey were instrumental in promoting the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.