A Place for Friends

Max Higbee Center supports and empowers teens and adults with developmental disabilities
to build community, friendships, happiness, life skills and health through recreation.
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Who We Are

Max Higbee Center is a grassroots organization founded by educators and families of people with developmental disabilities who wanted quality recreation opportunities in Whatcom County.
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A Benefits Perspective

Persons with developmental disabilities have historically enjoyed less freedom, autonomy, and self-determination than their non-disabled fellow citizens, impacting their health and well-being. In response, Western Washington University Professor Max Higbee and his supporters founded the "Drop-In Center" in 1983 as a place where persons with developmental disabilities could enjoy the freedom of recreation according to their choices and interests. Renamed in honor of its founder, the Max Higbee Center (MHC) now stands on State Street in the heart of Bellingham, the streetside sign proudly proclaiming, "A Place for Recreation, Friendship, and Community." From its inception, the MHC has remained true to its founding purpose—a setting for recreation and its many benefits.

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