Helping People Attain Their Own Measure of Greatness: By Megan Myers

Abraham Maslow, humanistic psychologist, wanted to understand what motivated people. He believed that everyone had underlying drives to fulfill needs that are innate in all of us. In 1943, Maslow was able to create a type of pyramid, arranged and hierarchical form of people’s basic needs.

The programs at Goodwill of Ashtabula help clients achieve the lower base needs of the hierarchy by teaching them fundamental skills. We do this so they can move up in the pyramid and eventually attain self-actualization. We offer them a hand-up, not a hand-out. The PRIDE (Personal Responsibility in Developing Employment) program here at Goodwill provides clients with the opportunity to develop workplace skills, such as specific job duties and work ethic, all while addressing barriers to unemployment, such as an unstable home environment and transportation issues. PRIDE staff helps to overcome these barriers, allowing clients to achieve their highest potential of self-actualization.

The Youth Work Program in Lake County provides services to youth such as training, career guidance, work experience, mentoring, and supportive services. Staff helps the youth to achieve primary needs, such as housing and putting food on the table, so that they can achieve a basic kind of a physiological comfort level.

Job development and Job Placement programs help to match a place of employment to the abilities of the client. The program manager is an advocate on behalf of the client. This specific matching helps the client to have a better sense of belonging in their job of choice.

Community Work Adjustment and Work Adjustment programs provide clients with a work experience to better their on-the-job skills for a set amount of time. An example of this would be having a client work at an outside (or inside Goodwill) company for 20 hours per week for 12 weeks. The placements are geared toward the client’s needs and interests, allowing the client to overcome any barriers they may have, such as developing job readiness skills. Job coaching is a service specifically for people with disabilities. Staff teach the clients specific job duties and offer support. This support pushes the clients to achieve a greater understanding of themselves and the abilities they bring to the work world.

Overall, Maslow’s hierarchy shows us various sets of needs that we, ideally, will be able to advance through in our lifetime. Sometimes, unfortunately, people find themselves stuck on lower levels. Our aim, here at Goodwill, is to help every client achieve their highest potential.