WIC Could Be For You
By Taylor Edghill
Walking through the doors at 6512 North Figueroa St leads you into a large, airy waiting area, complete with colorful chairs and bright posters adoring the blue brick wall. This is the WIC center.
"Let me just tell you what WIC stands for," says Lilia Martinez, the site supervisor of the Figueroa WIC center. "It stands for women, infants and children."
WIC is a program offered by the South Los Angeles Health Projects, a Special Supplemental Nutrition Program that specifically targets the health and well-being of low-income mothers and their children in South L.A.
Martinez says the The WIC Figueroa site mostly center caters to the low-income moms and kids of the Exposition area, South Figueroa Corridor, and also Vermont Square.
"We don't have exact data on this, but I know we have some single mommies who come through that are from the Vermont Square area, because I make sure to know every participant who walks through these doors and needs our help," says Martinez.
Vermont Square has one of the highest single-parent populations in the Los Angeles county, and many of these parents are low-income mothers1, women who may need the assistance of WIC. The problem is that many of them don't think they actually qualify.
According to Melissa Matthey, an area manager for SLAHP who is responsible for the Figueroa site, the issue stems from the fact that many of these moms consider WIC to be an entitlement program.
"A lot of assistance-type programs are what are called entitlement programs,"says Matthey. "A lot of people who do participate in entitlement programs, they're usually very restricted as far as, can you have a job, what your income is, what assets can you possess?"
Matthey says such restrictions are not found with the WIC program.
"Within the WIC program there is still an eligibility process, but it doesn't simply focus on your monetary and material assets to determine participant eligibility.
In order to qualify for the WIC program, participants must meet the following criteria: 1. Resident in a particular geographical category served by WIC. 2. Resident of California. 3. Must be a pregnant (prenatal) woman. 4. A breastfeeding woman up to one year postpartum or a non-breastfeeding woman up to six months postpartum 5. An infant 6. A child under the age of five years. 7. Have an indicator of nutritional need 8. Meet income eligibility.
So whilst there are specific income obligations, Matthey says they're anything but strict.
"Within the WIC program, people who may have jobs and who may own homes may qualify for the WIC program," says Matthey. "The same is not nearly as likely for entitlement programs. For WIC, the income standards really aren't that high, and secondly, the income is also based on family size as well. But as you can see, there are also so many other criteria to take into consideration other than monetary aspects."
Martinez says her WIC staff is making a big effort to spread the message amongst local communities, especially Vermont Square, that many women and their children are likely eligible for WIC.
"What we do is pretty much go to the hospitals near here or the clinics near here,"" says Martinez. "And we kind of start asking them 'Have you heard about WIC?'. Once they realize that they're actually qualified for WIC, it's a cake walk from there! I mean, what mommy wouldn't love our programs?"
The WIC program offers those who are eligible general pregnancy classes, breastfeeding support, referrals ranging from housing to immunization to even referrals for domestic abuse assistance. However, the biggest component of the WIC program is its nutrition service, a service which provides participants with food checks to purchase healthy, nutritious food at local WIC-affiliated vendors.
To learn more about WIC's programs, income eligibility, and food checks, listen and watch the audio slideshow and scroll down for more information.
1"Vermont Square," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
