Women, Infants & Children (WIC)

WIC continues to build health opportunities for Wisconsin families and provide essential services for young families in Winnebago County.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the USDA provided a waiver allowing WIC to provide services to families without requiring in person visits to the clinic. The WIC team adjusted all services to a phone based system. WIC is able to obtain all the needed verifications and provide the food benefit, nutrition education, breastfeeding support and referral services through phone visits with families. Families did not see any gaps in services.

Number of WIC Participants in 2020: 3,095

All participants engage with WIC services multiple times per year, the following counts are unduplicated.

  • Pregnant Women: 176

  • Breastfeeding Women: 237

  • Non Breastfeeding Postpartum Women: 417

  • Infants: 616

  • 1-4 year olds: 1649

Caseload
WIC caseload has increased over the course of the year. Our contracted caseload is 1,908 people per month; we were above our caseload from August 2020 - December 31,2020.

Breastfeeding Peer Counselor
Made 234 phone contacts with pregnant and breastfeeding women to support their breastfeeding goals. Began offering Zoom breastfeeding classes to pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Diaper Bank
The diaper pantry based out of the Neenah Office serves participants in the northern end of the county and is supported by United Way Fox Cities. We provided curbside pick up to families. Despite the pandemic, WIC staff was able to provide 1099 packages of diapers to 356 children which supported 252 families in 2020. 88% of families are below the FPL. We also provided 57 women with 111 fem care products in 2020.


The diaper pantry based out of the Oshkosh office started in April 2020 and is supported by Jake’s Diapers. The Oshkosh pantry serves those in the southern end of the county. WIC staff provided 370 packages of diapers to 83 children supporting 60 families. 88% of those families are below the FPL. We also provided 49 fem-care products to 32 women in 2020.

Fit Families

With a rolling enrollment of 50 families, this program adds another opportunity for WIC staff to provide education and reinforcement items to establish healthy habits as a family.

Our longstanding WIC Director, Barb Sheldon, retired in 2020.

On October 2, 2020, Barb Sheldon retired as the WIC Director. She started working for the Winnebago County WIC Program in September of 1983. During her tenure with WIC, Barb's steady and compassionate demeanor has helped decades of WIC parents feel supported, lifted, and more confident in the ability to nurture and feed their families. Her shared passion for nutrition, education, and the everlasting respect she has given all of our WIC families over the years will have a ripple effect in the community for generations to come. Barb is an outstanding manager and she has guided the WIC program from its humble beginnings to its current growing caseload. As a calm and driving force, she has led the WIC team through the ever changing requirements of WIC in an always composed and consistent nature. In honor of Barb's 37 years of service, the WIC staff have dedicated a piece of art with a plaque that will be displayed in both of the WIC locations. The displays will be a daily inspiration to current and future WIC staff for many years to come.