GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Countless families in West Michigan continue to struggle financially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the high inflation environment that emerged thereafter.
While there are programs in place that offer critical assistance, not everyone's taking advantage.
It’s what brought a group of high-ranking US agriculture officials to Grand Rapids Friday morning.
Officials highlighted the results of a recent study concerning participation in WIC, a federal food and maternal support program.
The study, they said, revealed only around half—roughly 58 percent or just over 6 million participants—of those who met the program’s criteria had gone on to enroll.
The data also suggested participation levels were rising in states like Michigan. Yet, without a congressional commitment to maintain full funding, Agriculture officials warned, some families could wind up on wait lists.
Families like Sekida McSwain’s.
“Where we fell short, WIC was able to come in,” she said.
We were invited into their first-floor exam room, sitting in on a portion of the appointment and getting a smile from the youngest member of the family: her grandchild.
McSwain signed up a number of years ago when she became a new mom and said she was grateful for the boost.
“There were things that we needed that I couldn't afford back then and WIC was available,” she related. “Especially with kids that are growing up, you know, they need that nutrition and WIC provides all of that.”
An acronym, WIC stands for women, infants and children—the program’s primary focus.
The program provides mothers who earn below the federal poverty line with the following resources:
-supplemental nutritious food
-nutrition education
-breastfeeding support
-immunization screening
-health and social services referrals
WIC is funded through the US Department of Agriculture. which some worry could, in the near term, be under threat on account of the current congressional gridlock. Under the continuing resolution adopted earlier this fall to avert a government shutdown, the program’s balance books should sustain it through the end of the year. Later than that it becomes, officials said, an open question.
“All of these benefits are crucial. And that's why investing in WIC is so important,” Xochitl Torres Small, a department deputy secretary suggested.
“We've seen that when kids get access to healthy food, when they have good healthy food to eat, that they perform better in school and have higher cognitive functions,” she noted. “They often have better out life outcomes.”
Speaking with healthcare workers during a Friday tour of the Kent County Health Department which administers the program locally, Small emphasized the effort’s importance.
“Part of making sure that people who are eligible sign up is making sure that there's consistent reliable funding for the program…. sufficient to pay for the families who want to make sure their kids have a healthy, healthy food at the table,” Small stressed during an interview with 13 OYS after the tour had concluded.
Folks like McSwain. She wants everyone to know what WIC did for her family and, in turn, could do for their families as well.
“When it's, it's there and it's available, you know, not enough people are utilizing it,” she related. “Your health is important, especially with the kids as they're growing up… find out about your resources…It's a good thing.”
Agriculture officials want congress to commit to fully-funding the program as they suggested it had done in the past, touting the benefits of WIC and other food assistance programs, which the department said touched the lives of one in every four Americans on an annual basis.
For eligibility guidelines, visit the Michigan Department of Health and Human Service website.
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