MISSION: A gift from Justin Aaberg to all youth; create safe environments where young people can be themselves in a bully-free zone, achieve self-confidence and be proud of who they are.
WHY: A student cannot learn unless his or her basic needs are being met. Justin’s Gift works to fulfill the needs of youth based on the Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory of Needs. Until youth’s basic needs are met, they are not able to focus on learning. Life is challenging enough, without the additional challenge of not having a formal education. A priority of Justin’s Gift is to inspire youth to complete their education. Justin’s Gift will help fill the following needs: belonging, self-esteem, self-respect, and ultimately a realization of their importance in the world.
CLARIFICATION ABOUT JUSTIN’S GIFT AND HOMELESS YOUTH: Justin’s Gift is very concerned about the growing population of homeless youth in our area and are working to support organizations who are able to best address those immediate needs of homeless youth. However, to clarify, Justin’s Gift is not able to directly provide shelter or drop in services for homeless youth. We are able to direct youth to other outside organizations that provide those services, but do not have the capacity to provide those services directly ourselves.