Orka

Overview

  • Posted Jobs 0
  • Viewed 14

Company Description

JHA Employment, Training Program Celebrates Brand-new Graduates

The Johnstown Housing Authority’s Employment and Training Program commemorated eight graduates of the program’s 2nd 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 look for additional education or work in the Johnstown location, said JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts.

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

The program consisted of courses offered at Johnstown public housing community rooms to get rid of participants’ transport barriers.

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

The ceremony Friday commemorated the eight graduates of the program while acknowledging lots more who enrolled, but pulled out after finding employment or other further education opportunities along the way.

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 during 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 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 (ideal), of Johnstown, shakes hands with Johnstown Housing Authority (JHA) Executive Director Mike Alberts (center) while getting 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. 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 section of Johnstown, commemorates 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 daughter Dakota Marong, 3, praises the graduates during 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 participants finishing the Johnstown Housing Authority Employment & Training Program during a graduation event at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Richland referall.us Township on Friday, January 31, 2025.

By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com!.?.! JARI Director of Workforce Development Dave Grimaldi stated members of the program’s second associate have actually advanced to more education at Penn Highlands or other location schools for certification in fields including HVAC, emergency situation medication and cybersecurity. The program is offered at no charge to individuals and graduated its first cohort in June. After Friday’s graduation, two more associates are scheduled, 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 very best ideas we have actually had for finding quality staff members for employers in the area,”Balog stated.”We came up with the concept of dealing with our public housing systems because lots of people 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 stated the program has assisted people”

raise themselves up and get them connected. “He praised the graduates and the partners who made the program possible. The program has earned HUD acknowledgment as a finest practice, a given to one authority every year for especially improving the lives of its citizens, Alberts said. The graduates received certificates and a standing ovation from household and good friends in presence, along with 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 contributed in championing the program, JARI President Linda Thomson said.