WIC offers nutritional support to mothers in need

Women and infants in Sanders County, who are within a certain income range, have a place to go for help with nutrition education in the Sanders County Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC).

WIC is a nutrition education and a supplemental nutrition program for individuals who are up to 185 percent of the poverty level. For example, a family of four whose gross household income is up to, but no more than $39,220 would be eligible and qualify for the WIC program.

“People have to qualify based on their income and their residential information,” said Karen Dwyer, the WIC program coordinator for Sanders County.

The services provided to individuals are based on that particular client’s risks, Dwyer said.

“For example, if they come in and we check their blood and they have a low iron level, we would teach them about what food sources in their diet they can eat to make their iron count come up,” she explained.

The program basically provides food and nutrition education, but they do refer clients who may need help in other areas. She said that sometimes the Family Planning Office will help women out with pre-natal vitamins and that they also refer clients to Medicaid, food stamps, food programs in the community and to doctor’s and dentists depending on the needs of each individual client.

Dwyer said that the benefits to the program are substantial.

“A woman is going to know how to feed her family more nutritiously and she is also going to have the most up-to-date information on nutrition and some health aspects as well,” she explained.

According to Dwyer, women who participate in the program oftentimes have lower health care costs, because they have information on how to keep their family healthy.

“It is really beneficial to these women,” Dwyer said.

Healthy mothers can also breast-feed their infants — something the WIC program encourages.

“We really are in support of breast feeding,” Dwyer said. “It has been proven time and time again that breast fed children are more intelligent than children who are bottle fed, and that is due to the nutrients they receive from their mother’s milk that they can’t get in a formula.”

She added that children who are involved in the WIC program also tend to be more intelligent than children who are not, likely because their mothers received proper nutrition during their pregnancies and took their nutrition information home with them to their families, promoting healthy lifestyles to their children.

In addition to the education aspect of the WIC program, mothers who are eligible also receive a check to use to buy WIC-approved foods.

“Women who use WIC checks aren’t buying pop and candy bars, they can only buy pre-approved items, such as milk, cheese, eggs, iron fortified cereals, peanut butter, dried peas and beans, and juice,” Dwyer said.

Next year there will be some changes to the program and women will be able to purchase infant food as well as some fresh produce and bread and grains.

Dwyer said that there is no money ever involved and the women who participate in the program don’t have to pay anything, they just receive educational information and WIC checks.

The WIC program is a federally-funded nationwide program, that is usually done on a county basis. States receive money for the program and then it is up to the state to distribute it out to the participating counties.

Dwyer said that it is pretty easy for a woman to sign-up to participate.

“She would just have to call our office and make an appointment, and then we would send her a list of things to bring in,” Dwyer said. “She would need to bring in a kind of diet paper, financial income and residential information, and then the children and/or herself, and could make an appointment for them as well.”

The Sanders County WIC holds clinics throughout Sanders County every month. They’re in Plains three times a month, on the first three Tuesdays of the month, unless the first of the month is on a Tuesday. When they’re in Plains they’re at the Alliance Church.

WIC is in Thompson Falls the first three Mondays and last Tuesday of the month in room 120 of the Sanders County Courthouse. On the fourth Monday of every month they visit both Noxon and Heron. They go to the Noxon Senior Center and the Old Elementary School in Heron. Then every other third Tuesday of the month, the Sanders County WIC program travels to Lonepine, where they meet at Lonepine Hall.

“We want to be able to make is accessible to people in the county,” Dwyer said.

Dwyer said that there are a lot of participants who are so thankful for the program and that it has really benefited them a lot.

“In Sanders County we have about 200 participants,” she said. “This program is really helping them and making a difference in their lives.”

Not only does Dwyer believe that the program is a positive one for those who benefit from it, but she said that it is a very positive program to work for as well.

“Mothers and babies are the best things in the world,” she said. “It is such a fun program to learn about and it is always changing in a good way. Plus you really get the feeling that you’re making a difference.”

Dwyer encourages anyone who wants more information about the WIC program in Sanders County to call the Public Health Office in the Sanders County Courthouse at 827-6931.