Community Service Spotlight
Co-Written by a Board Member and MHC Team
When Max Higbee, a Western Washington University professor and disability advocate, looked at the lives of people with developmental disabilities in the early 1980s. He noticed a troubling pattern: their days were highly structured by state systems, yet their free time was often empty, passive, or controlled by others. Max recognized how this limited personal choice, autonomy, and self-determination.
His solution was simple and revolutionary: recreation. Recreation offered freedom from isolation and overly rigid environments, and freedom to choose activities based on personal interests. With support from students and community members, Max founded the “Drop-In Center” in 1983 — a place where people with developmental disabilities could gather, form friendships, and decide how they wanted to spend their time. Renamed in 1991, the Max Higbee Center (MHC) continues this mission nearly four decades later.
After several temporary homes, the MHC eventually moved to its current location on North State Street, a vibrant and accessible space well suited to its expanding programs. Today, it remains what Max envisioned: a community built on recreation, friendship, and belonging.
Why Recreation Matters
Although conditions for people with developmental disabilities have improved since the era of segregation and institutionalization, disparities persist in health, social connection, and community access. Recreation is proven to strengthen physical, emotional, and social well-being , yet meaningful opportunities remain limited.
The Max Higbee Center helps close this gap. Through accessible recreation, the MHC supports physical health, mental wellness, community connection, and caregiver respite, creating space for autonomy, growth, and joy. These benefits extend beyond members, enriching the broader Bellingham community.
Movement and Choice
People with developmental disabilities are statistically less active than their non-disabled peers and are more vulnerable to chronic health conditions. Barriers to fitness spaces, resources, and supportive environments contribute to this inequity.
MHC programs provide a pathway to movement and wellness. Running six days a week, offerings include dance, yoga, fitness classes, walks, hikes, and more than 500 staff-supported outings each year. Activities are adapted so each member can participate at their own level, whether completing a yoga flow or stretching from a chair.
One-on-one services offer individualized support, whether it’s learning to swim, riding a bike to Boulevard Park, or simply walking to the center each day. During Covid-19, one mother saw her daughter’s muscle atrophy after long periods of isolation — a stark reminder of how essential MHC’s movement -based programs are. When it became safe, staff resumed outdoor walks even before indoor programs returned, because movement is more than exercise; it’s a lifeline to health and connection.
Mental Health and Emotional Support
People with developmental disabilities experience higher rates of anxiety, depression, and trauma, trends intensified by the pandemic. Recreation, especially activities involving connection, nature, and engagement, is a powerful contributor to mental well-being.
At MHC, these benefits are integrated throughout programming. Staff use a “positive behavior supports” approach, emphasizing strengths, modeling healthy coping skills, and encouraging independence. Emotional support is a key part of daily work: sometimes, it involves helping members navigate conflict, other times, holding space for grief or fear.
One member grieving her mother expressed, “Nobody told me my mom was going to die. I didn’t know that moms die.” Many adults with developmental disabilities have been shielded from life’s difficult truths, leaving them unprepared to process loss. The center offers a safe space to understand emotions and receive support. No one has to face hardship alone.
The MHC also serves as a protective factor. With higher rates of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse among people with developmental disabilities, the presence of trusted adults and mandated reporters provides safety and reduces vulnerability.
Social Health, Belonging, Connection
Loneliness is a major public health issue linked to outcomes similar to smoking or obesity. People with developmental disabilities face even higher risks of social isolation, particularly after high school when structured social environments disappear; a period families refer to as the “services cliff.”
The MHC actively combats isolation by fostering friendships, belonging , and meaningful community involvement. It is a welcoming space where members socialize, share interests, and build lasting connections.
One young man, isolated after graduation and grieving the loss of school friendships, experienced social and emotional regression. At first, he could only sit in the parking lot. Then he reached the door. Eventually, with support, he joined programs and rediscovered community. Today, he kayaks, makes art, and even performs in the center’s annual play. Recreation became his bridge from loneliness to belonging.
Respite for Families
Family caregivers often face stress, financial strain, and limited time for their own well-being. Respite — time for caregivers to rest and recharge — is essential yet often unavailable.
MHC provides trusted, affordable programming that offers members fulfilling recreational experiences while allowing families space to rest, work, or care for themselves. When caregivers are supported, both they and their loved ones thrive.
Friendship, Choice, Self-Determination
Research consistently highlights three essential components of quality of life: friendship, choice, and self-determination. Yet many people with developmental disabilities have limited opportunities to develop friendships or make meaningful decisions about their daily lives.
These values are central to MHC’s mission. Members shape the activity calendar, choose how they participate, and are supported in taking healthy risks — essential for personal growth. Staff help navigate conflicts and honor autonomy, creating an environment where confidence, agency, and relationships can flourish.
The Capability Approach
The Capability Approach, developed by philosopher Martha Nussbaum, provides a powerful lens for understanding MHC’s impact. The framework argues that justice requires ensuring people have the real freedoms — the capabilities — to live lives they value. These include health, emotional expression, social connection, imagination, play, and control over one’s environment.
Recreation fosters many of these capabilities. It nurtures creativity, social interaction, joy, engagement with nature, emotional expression, and agency. In this view, recreation is not optional; it is a fundamental component of human development and justice.
Tammy’s story illustrates this vividly. Shy, isolated, and anxious after years of limited community involvement, she joined the MHC with one-on-one support. Staff encouraged small steps, first walks, then new activities. When she discovered climbing, everything clicked. Soon she was climbing three to four times a week, eventually independently. Vital Climbing Gym named her “Member of the Month.” Today she swims, attends the YMCA, and engages fully in community life.
Her capability to flourish was always there; she simply needed access and support to express it.
Conclusion
For more than 40 years, the Max Higbee Center has offered far more than recreation. It has created pathways to health, connection, purpose, autonomy, and justice for people with developmental disabilities. Its work demonstrates a simple truth: a community thrives when everyone can share in the joy and freedom of recreation.
What strengthens the lives of MHC members strengthens Bellingham itself — because a just, caring community is one where every person is valued, included, and supported to live the life they choose.
