Washington, DC, May 19th,— La Clinica del Pueblo (La Clínica) has beenawarded a $150,000 grant to implement a WIC Community Innovation and OutreachProject (WIC CIAO). WIC CIAO is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA) Food and Nutrition Service and aims to support efforts to develop, implement,and evaluate innovative outreach strategies to increase awareness, participation, andbenefit redemption in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,and Children (WIC), and reduce disparities in program delivery.
“As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, La Clínica continues to innovate and respond tothe issues Latinx immigrant communities face in the DC area. We are proud to partneron this critical initiative, with USDA, UnidosUS, and FRAC to identify new ways ofconnecting people to WIC,” shared Catalina Sol, Executive Director, La Clínica delPueblo.
La Clínica, a community based Federally Qualified Health Center was selected through ahighly competitive grant process. La Clínica’s project will increase WIC awareness,enrollment, and redemption for eligible Latinxs by implementing targeted outreachusing community-level data and partnering with farmer’s markets, childcare centers,and local WIC agencies in Washington, D.C, and Maryland.
The project takes an innovative spin on the community health worker model throughthe use of “charla” small group education in various settings. The “charla” educationalsessions will be embedded in new and existing programs and partnerships to maximizereach and impact and will complement the onsite enrollment in WIC at the clinic.
Although WIC is available to eligible individuals regardless of immigration status,barriers can prevent Latinxs from enrolling and utilizing benefits. While WIC datashows respectable enrollment levels among Latinxs, this group has been historicallyundercounted in government data, and our region has seen many recent arrivalsunaware of the program. Furthermore, disparities in food security and related healthoutcomes disproportionately affect Latinxs – making reaching this population critical.Disparities to address include low birth weight, infant mortality, iron-deficiency anemia,and obesity-related chronic disease.
In 2020, only 50 percent of all eligible individuals nationwide participated in WIC,equating to a shortfall of almost 6 million individuals. The WIC CIAO Project aims tochange that by expanding partnerships with community organizations and usingcommunity-level data to develop and implement innovative WIC outreach efforts.
Reaching more families with WIC will have positive impacts on the community. WIChas been shown to provide wide-ranging benefits, including longer, safer pregnancies,with fewer premature births and infant deaths; improved dietary outcomes for infantsand children; improved maternal health; and improved performance at school, amongothers. In addition to health benefits, WIC participants showed significant savings inhealth care costs when compared to non-participants.
In total, there are 36 WIC CIAO awardees made up of WIC state and local agencies,including tribal nations, and nonprofit entities and organizations.
WIC CIAO is administered through a USDA cooperative agreement with the FoodResearch & Action Center, in partnership with the Gretchen Swanson Center forNutrition, the Native American Agriculture Fund, and UnidosUS. WIC CIAO is part ofUSDA’s Food and Nutrition Service broader initiative to modernize WIC.
Visit hellowic.org to find out more about the WIC CIAO Project and awardees, and signup for updates on WIC CIAO events and announcements.
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La Clínica del Pueblo, a Federally Qualified health Center (FQHC) and community-based health center, has served a primarily Spanish-speaking immigrant community inthe Washington DC area for 40 years. Fueled by a commitment to health as a humanright, La Clínica provides culturally and linguistically appropriate comprehensivemedical, mental health, and substance use services, community health promotion,language access services, and health advocacy. La Clínica operates in DC and PrinceGeorge’s County, Maryland.