The Oconto County Women Infants Children (WIC) Program has begun visiting the Encompass child care center in Oconto Falls to make it easier for parents to access the service.
Hope Kersten, the county WIC director, said she plans to visit once a month to start.
“As you know, Oconto County is kind of long — Pulaski to Townsend, no real public transportation, so this allows us to come to Oconto Falls, to make it a little easier for clients to come to us,” Kersten said Jan. 8 during her first monthly visit.
WIC is a supplemental nutrition program for pregnant and postpartum women and infants and children younger than age 5 who meet income guidelines.
“The main goals of the WIC program are to do health and nutrition screening – heights, weights, we check hemoglobin for anemia, and we blood lead testing,” Kersten said.
She can also provide referrals to other programs and other health care the children might need. WIC also administers a federal program that offers a monthly package of nutritious food — fruits and vegetables, whole grains, yogurt, juice cheese, eggs and other healthy foods.
Encompass is a natural place to meet with WIC clients, Kersten said.
“It’s just a nice fit for us, because the age groups are obviously very similar,” she said. “We need a home, and with 4k and Head Start here,, too, it’s good for referrals, too.”
Missy Schmeling, executive director of Encompass, said engaging with partners in the community is one of the nonprofit’s key initiatives.
“We are always looking for other partnerships we could leverage to help support the health and wellness of local families,” Schmeling said. “Public Health helped us secure the dollars for the Oconto Falls center, so the relationship has always been percolating over two years, and our No. 1 priority is how do we connect families to resources in the community?”
Among other partnerships are with the Oconto Falls School District, which set up a section of 4-year-old kindergarten at the Encompass center, and establishment of a Head Start program through Family and Child Learning Centers (FCLC) of Northeast Wisconsin, providing educational opportunities for low-income families.
The Oconto Falls center at 650 E. Jackson St. opened in June, and after a little more than six months, the facility is serving 55-65 children, slightly less than half of its 140 capacity.
“We’re halfway there, doing pretty good so far,” Schmeling said. “I like the trend on that.”
Encompass continues to recruit educators to serve at Oconto Falls and its seven other locations. For more information, visit encompass.org.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
WIC sets regular visits at Encompass center
