The Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) continues to be open for business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has allowed North Dakota WIC to make changes in how services are offered, such as:
- Authorization to offer WIC services remotely, including the ability to do WIC appointments and applications over the phone.
- Substitutions for some hard-to-find WIC-approved food items like milk, eggs or bread for other WIC eligible foods found at the store.
“WIC staff are working hard to ensure that mothers and young children have access to healthy foods, breastfeeding support, and accurate information during this public health emergency,” said Colleen Pearce, director of the North Dakota WIC Program.
WIC is a popular public health program that helps families eat well, learn about nutrition and stay healthy, by providing nutrition and breastfeeding education and counseling, free, healthy foods and referrals to health and other services.
WIC is open to working and non-working families, including those who are recently unemployed. Participants in programs like Medicaid, TANF or SNAP are automatically income eligible. Families may qualify for WIC by meeting the income guidelines for the household (for example, a family of four, can earn up to $47,638 a year, or $3,970 per month and qualify). Individuals who are pregnant, have a new baby or children under age 5 might also be eligible for WIC.
Visit the North Dakota WIC website at www.health.nd.gov/prevention/wic for more information and to find qualification criteria.