WIC – Mobile County Health Department

A BabyPalooza Expo will take place in Mobile on Saturday, April 22, at the Mobile Civic Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. According to organizers, BabyPalooza’s Baby and Maternity Expos connect new and expectant parents to resources, information, and products they need most.

BabyPalooza is free to attend, but everyone must register to enter. This helps gauge expected attendance, as well as gives the ability to send reminders. Those interested in attending can register for a free ticket at this link – https://babypalooza.com/event/mobile-babypalooza-baby-expo.

Several Alabama Department of Public Health programs will sponsor BabyPalooza. These include the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) supplemental nutrition program, Oral Health, and Perinatal.

Allison Hatchett, the Alabama WIC program director, said, “BabyPalooza is an excellent outreach opportunity as this event focuses on WIC’s target population by broadly reaching local pregnant women and moms of infants and toddlers.”

Special social media sites have been created for this event. Those can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/babypaloozamobile and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/babypalooza_mobile.

Other Alabama BabyPalooza events will take place during 2023 in Birmingham on Saturday, May 20, and Huntsville on Saturday, August 26. For more information, visit https://babypalooza.com/baby-expos.

MCHD’s Office of Nutrition Services manages the local WIC program and will have a booth set up on April 22. A monthly average of 10,546 participants received WIC food instruments during the Fiscal Year 2022.

To qualify for WIC, a person must meet income guidelines, be a resident of Alabama, and have been seen by a health professional at the WIC clinic. For more information, visit https://mchd.org/wic or call 251-690-8829.

June 1, 2021

Veggies and fruits increase provides more nutritional access to WIC families

MOBILE, Ala. — The American Rescue Plan Act has authorized Women, Infants & Children (WIC) supplemental nutrition state agencies to enhance the WIC benefit for a period of four months, expanding the vegetable and fruit voucher from $9 per month for children and $11 per month for women to $35 per month per participant.

WIC’s vegetable and fruit voucher – known as the Cash Value Benefit (CVB) – was first introduced in 2007 as part of a decades-long effort by the National WIC Association (NWA) to increase the nutritional quality of WIC-approved foods. The CVB is credited with improving the dietary quality of WIC participants and reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity among WIC toddlers.

The Mobile County Health Department WIC program will be implementing the CVB increase beginning June 1 until September 30.

Mobile County residents can find out if they are eligible for WIC by going to signupwic.com.

“With far too many families struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic to afford the healthy foods that help grow healthy children, this temporary boost to the WIC benefit is an investment in our nation’s future,” said Rev. Douglas Greenaway, President & CEO of the National WIC Association. “Increased access to vegetables and fruits is a critical step toward ensuring that children have access to vital nutrients, curbing childhood obesity rates while strengthening our local farm economies. In communities across the country, WIC is ready to help as parents continue to navigate the COVID-19 crisis.”

Search