Donation Nation Inc. : A Psychological Justification

In 1943, Abraham Maslow transformed the psychological field, bringing in a new movement in psychology, called the humanistic view of behavior, a departure from Sigmund Freud’s widely accepted psychoanalytic approach; a theory that suggested that motivation and human behaviors are determined through natural instincts. In essence, Freud’s theory was animalistic, it broke down our life experience to unconscious drives and biological needs. However, Maslow believed that motivation appeared in five stages of a pyramid, ascending from the bottom up to achieve self-actualization; a counter theory that suggests that biological instincts do not just determine human behavior, but rather, our environment and social experience can identify the outcomes of our success.

According to the humanistic view of behavior, we must understand that finding personal empowerment is different for every individual, for every individual may be at a different stage of the pyramid or different stage of their lives. Just because you have climbed the pyramid to achieve self-actualization, does not mean that you cannot fall back down to the base of the pyramid; Example? Losing your job, why is it so devastating? Yes, you lose your income, but understanding the psychological damage it causes, is pivotal in understanding why poverty can be such a destructive force to the human psyche and motivation. Your job gives you access to fulfill your most basic needs (food, water, and shelter), builds your self-esteem, gives you a sense of belonging, pride, and purpose; your quality of life is co-dependent on your job/career. You see, losing your job strips you of these attributes, causing you to fall to the base of the pyramid, where you will have to again ascend from the bottom. If the first two tiers of the pyramid are not achieved, you will not reach your potential, for you will always strive to acquire your most basic needs first. However, why does this matter, why should we care about this psychological theory?

Maslow’s theory is the psychological justification for our entire social safety net infrastructure; it is the rational of why we need to expand Donation Nation’s nonprofit redistribution program and our local safety net programs! The underlying principle behind Maslow’s theory is that personal growth begins from the bottom up, it starts with stability, the first two tiers of the pyramid.

In 2008, Montgomery County Government launched a Housing Initiative Program (HIP) to reduce chronic homelessness, by supporting a Housing First Model, a model where individuals are first put into emergency shelters and then transferred into permanent housing with supportive services. According to Montgomery County Action Board, as of 2016, Montgomery County has 76,854 individuals and families who live below the federal poverty line. Seven percent of our community is food insecure, 10.5% or 25,320 children are experiencing poverty, while 1/3 of all students receive free or reduced lunch meal plans; we cannot allow this to be normalized; for Maslow's theory acknowledges what happens when we do nothing. Maslow’s theory explains to us why poverty can jump generations, why poverty hinders success, and why we must act to reduce its threshold on our community. The good news is that our county is working hard to reduce poverty within our region, we have the infrastructure to help those in need, but it needs a facelift and expansion of its resources.

For years the not-for-profit sector has embedded their culture, their values, and resources into Montgomery County; building relationships, trust and advocating for change; It’s success? Building a foundation of over 5,000 different non-profits dedicated to attacking social issues. Many are committed to reducing poverty, devoted to providing the resources needed to bring stability to our communities most vulnerable. However, within our non-profit infrastructure, there is a critical flaw, a piece missing from the puzzle, it has to do with finishing the process of providing permanent housing.

You see, once an individual comes out of an emergency shelter, they are transitioned into subsidized housing, often having nothing but barren balls. As a consequence, clients and case managers struggle and scramble to furnish their new homes, often resulting in being put on a nine-month wait list to receive any household items. Nine months without a bed; nine months without a couch; nine months of a barren home, nine months of a constant reminder of the struggles and brutality of poverty.

The issue within Montgomery Counties non-profit sector is that it is diverse, both financially and services they provide. 72.7% of non-profits within Montgomery County have budgets of $100,000 or less. In consequence, non-profits within our region lack the space needed to store household items, and as a result, do not have an active inventory, and rely on in-kind donations and other non-profits; the process is slow and broken.

What if nonprofits could receive a steady supply of household items, for free? What if nonprofits did not have to rely on in-kind donations, where the quality is often questionable? What if individuals and families did not have to be subjected a wait list to receive household items?

Within the months and years to come, Donation Nation will be partnering with more non-profits within our community and developing a solution to expedite the process of providing our nonprofit infrastructure with a supply of quality household items. The vision is to have a large warehouse where we hold, store and deliver household items to all of our nonprofit partners! No longer will nonprofits have to look for household items, they will not have to worry about spending money on storage units, or spend resources on finding household items; we will handle the logistics.

Yes, we are aware that this will take time and an enormous amount of work, but it is a necessity needed within the infrastructure of our communities nonprofit sector. Until our vision comes to reality, we cannot afford to wait, if you have any household items, small or bulk, please do not throw them away, use our non-profit removal service or drop them off at Donation Nation Inc. (please call ahead, before dropping off, 855-DN-CYCLE). Thousands of our neighbors are in need of household items, together, we can help bring stability and dignity to our most vulnerable members of our community!

My request is this, support our nonprofit infrastructure, donate your time, donate money, donate household items, talk with government officials and help expand our resources to catch those who struggle within our community. If you are not sure which nonprofits to support, here are a few that do amazing work within our community!

Donation Nation Inc.: http://www.donationnationusa.org/

Identity Youth: https://identity-youth.org/

A Wider Circle: http://awidercircle.org/

A Stepping Stone: http://awidercircle.org/

Interfaith Works: http://www.iworksmc.org/

Montgomery County Coalition of the Homeless: https://mcch.net/

Pathways to Housing DC: https://www.pathwaystohousingdc.org/

Coalition for the Homeless DC: http://www.dccfh.org/

ECDC: http://www.ecdcus.org/

References

McLeod, Saul. "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Simply Psychology. N.p., 16 Sept. 2016. Web. 19 June 2017.

"Nonprofit Facts." Nonprofit Montgomery. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2017.

"Faces of Poverty 2016, Montgomery County, MD." T He Montgomery County Community Action Board, 06 Dec. 2016. Web. 18 June 2017.