Former Olympic ski racer, Jimmie Heuga, founded The Heuga Center in 1984 to teach people with multiple sclerosis (MS) how to use exercise to help manage their life with this chronic disease. He wanted to share the principles that transformed his life from one of despair to one of health and well-being. Heuga was diagnosed with MS in 1970, at the height of his racing career. At the time, people with MS were advised to avoid physical activity. Defying conventional wisdom, Heuga began a program of exercise, nutrition, and psychological motivation and found not only his physical condition, but his outlook on life improved. Jimmie's success revolutionized the management of MS. He transformed his frustration into productivity, reclaiming his life and showing the medical community that there was, indeed, another way to live with MS. Today, The Heuga Center has expanded Jimmie's approach to focus on the whole person and family living with the impacts of MS. Programs include education, nutrition, mental well-being, and exercise, as well as learning specific, individualized life management skills and ways to integrate wellness activities into everyday life. The Center's Programs help people set personal life goals as a focal point for reclaiming their lives, and then give them the strategies, confidence and support to strive for those goals.
