Surviving to Thriving: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

In the back of everyone's mind sits the question, what is my potential? What is my purpose? Whether you are a successful person in the eyes of society or someone who has not accomplished much during their time here, this question is always there. 

Abraham Maslow was an early psychologist who developed the concept that people are motivated by a hierarchy or needs. Maslow believed that human needs must be met in a certain sequence in order to obtain self fulfillment. These needs go as ordered:

1. Physiological Needs: Food, water, shelter, sleep.

2. Safety Needs: Security, stability, health.

3. Belongingness and Love: Friendship, intimacy, family.

4. Esteem Needs: Confidence, achievement, respect.

5. Self-Actualization: Achieving one’s full potential and personal growth

As Maslow shows in this chronological list of human needs, physiological needs sit at the bottom of the pyramid. This lowest level of the pyramid is the absolute basic needs of humans, including food, water, shelter, and sleep. Being homeless means not knowing where your next meal or drink or fresh water is coming from, nor having a secure form of shelter, resulting in lack of sleep.

The next tier on this list is safety needs: security, stability, and health. As you can see, this being directly above the needs of food, water, shelter, and sleep, safety needs directly correlate with this. Without having achieved physiological needs, it is difficult to then reach safety needs. 

In third on the list sits belongingness and love: friendship, intimacy, and family. Maslow believes that in order to feel a sense of belongingness and love, basic needs such as food, water, shelter, sleep, security, stability, and health must be met. This means that someone who is focused on where they are going to get their next meal or find secure shelter for the night will not have the ability to form a sense of belonging. 

Next is esteem needs: confidence, achievement, and respect. In order to get to this level on Maslow's list, one must achieve physiological needs, safety needs, and belongingness and love. Similar to the other three needs, it makes sense that basic human needs are needed to be met before friendship and family can be focused on. Once belongingness and love have been met, confidence, achievement, and respect will come. For people who are living day to day on the streets, it is very unlikely for them to get past the first two tiers of physiological needs and safety needs. This leaves two tiers of basic needs that are not being achieved. 

Lastly, the fifth human need is self-actualization: achieving one's full potential and personal growth. Maslow believed that in order to get to self fulfillment, one must first have all four human needs met. 

As you can see by the structure of this hierarchy, it is very hard to achieve a person's full potential without first having their basic needs met. To put this in perspective of someone struggling to find housing, it creates a very tough dynamic to ever move past the foundations of a fulfilling life. In order to help people who are struggling and living day to day on the streets, it is essential to meet the first tiers of this pyramid. Although Maslow did have some understanding of the contrary belief that it is possible to move up through this hierarchy prior to meeting all needs, he notes that it is still essential to at least have these basic needs in the working. 

By providing a comprehensive list of resources for food and shelters in Portland, this greatly increases the likelihood of meeting at least some basic needs. In turn, this would likely give more hope and purpose for these people who are struggling, ultimately leading to the goal of self-actualization.

Check out this resource from Stronger Oregon on outreach programs that focus on meeting Maslow's 5 needs https://www.strongeroregon.com/programs/outreach-program-hrsn