Rutgers Health Expands Program Services for Women, Infants and Children in Newark
A grant of nearly $600,000 will expand Rutgers Health’s outreach efforts to the Newark community and reduce disparities in the nutrition program.
The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) has received a $597,638 grant to increase awareness of the program and enrollment, particularly among underserved Portuguese and immigrant families in Newark’s Ironbound District.
In Essex County, WIC provides healthy foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding counseling and referrals to 6,014 participants, including 1,594 pregnant and postpartum individuals, 1,424 infants under 12 months and 2,996 children under 5 years old.
“Too many New Jersey women and children are not getting the nutrition they need to thrive,” said Susan Stephenson-Martin, director of the WIC program at the medical school. “We are proud to be part of this critical initiative and identify new ways to connect people to WIC.” This collaboration will allow us to bring WIC services to the community to alleviate barriers such as transportation and access.
Supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, the WIC Community Outreach and Innovation Project grant aims to support efforts to develop, implement, and evaluate strategies innovative outreach efforts aimed at increasing awareness, participation and reimbursement of benefits for women, infants and children. as well as reduce disparities in program delivery in Essex County.
“Establishing community collaborations provides the opportunity to not only increase WIC enrollment at the community level, but also focus on increasing WIC awareness and enrollment among underserved Portuguese-speaking families and families of immigrants in the north part of Newark,” Stephenson-Martin said.
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School WIC administrators will use the funds to increase participant enrollment and retention by collaborating with the Greater Newark Health Care Coalition to build knowledge of WIC among point-of-care agencies and community organizations and their ability to help customers. with WIC navigation. Funds will also support a survey and education efforts among existing WIC participants and providers to increase the use of WIC benefits.
“We are excited to partner with Rutgers NJMS WIC, Parent Programs and the South Ward Promise Neighborhood to increase awareness and education about WIC in our neighborhoods and ensure eligible families can fully participate in all services offered by WIC,” said Andrea. Martinez-Mejia, executive director of the Greater Newark Health Care Coalition.
Reaching more families with WIC will have positive impacts on the community, Stephenson-Martin said.
“WIC has been shown to provide a wide range of benefits, such as longer, safer pregnancies, with fewer premature births and infant deaths, and improvements in areas such as infant feeding outcomes and children, maternal health and educational outcomes. In addition to the health benefits, WIC participants experienced significant savings in health care costs compared to non-WIC participants,” she said.
WIC CIAO is administered under a USDA cooperative agreement with a private, nonprofit organization. Food Research and Action Centerin partnership with the Gretchen Swanson Center for NutritionTHE Native American Agricultural Fund And United States United States, a Latin American civil rights organization.
Learn more about the WIC CIAO program in the City of Newark here or by email at rutgerswic@njms.rutgers.edu.
