Community Corner
WIC Offers Online Nutrition Courses
Workshops are offered 24 hours a day so mothers can find nutritional information without leaving their homes.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, or WIC, is offering online nutrition education courses for women to receive WIC checks three months at a time without leaving home.
Nutrition education courses are part of the requirements to get voucher checks for participants of the program.
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To help ensure faster delivery of services, the Public Health Foundation Enterprises, or PHFE WIC program, with an office in Irwindale, offers the online courses on healthy food and nutrition information 24 hours a day. This frees the recipients from having to make required office visits for nutrition workshops to receive their monthly checks.
PHFE went on to pilot its own program in June 2009 at two WIC centers. By August 2011, the program was such a success that 61 PHFE centers offered it. As of January, 2,500 families utilized the online program monthly.
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“I am so thrilled to see more and more participants taking advantage of online education,” said Judy Gomez, director of planning and projects for PHFE WIC. “We are hearing from clients that they really love the convenience and are learning great new information.”
WIC is a USDA-funded food and nutrition education nonprofit agency for pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children under the age of 5 who are low-income (up to 185% of the poverty line) and at nutritional risk. PHFE WIC is the largest local WIC program in the country.
“As far as I know, PHFE WIC, right here in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, is the first local WIC agency to develop and provide its own online education. It’s quite an accomplishment for a local agency,” said Eloise Jenks, executive director for PHFE WIC.
PHFE WIC oversees 61 locations and 310,000 clients in the three counties. Clients receive fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain items and nutrition education, among other services.
For more information on WIC services and eligibility, visit www.phfewic.org. The Irwindale/Baldwin Park office is located at 4239 Main Ave. and can be reached at 888-942-2229.