The South Dakota Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program’s monthly mobile visits kicked off on December 10 at Family Medicine Residency Clinic in Rapid City. Braving frigid winds and biting cold, Lindsey Hays, RDN, LN, CSR, WIC Dietitian Manager, West Region, and her team from South Dakota Department of Health huddled in their van to offer nutrition advice and breastfeeding support to women who are pregnant or those who are caring for a child five years old or younger.
“It’s a one stop shop to answer questions about WIC, lower barriers, to get people on the WIC program, and also just interact with people who are interested in WIC,” Lindsey says. “We have this big box of nutrition focused toys and interactive games for kids. The idea is we would keep the kids busy and do maybe some educational stuff and then do business with parents or guardians. But we do involve the kids in the WIC visits, as well. We do hemoglobin screening, which is a marker for iron level of anemia. One of the reasons WIC was created 50 years ago was to help prevent problems related to malnutrition that affect pregnant women and infants. Low iron is one of those things that we address. We also do heights and weights and provide recipes. We are an extra layer of support for populations that are most vulnerable. Connecting people to resources is just one of the many reasons that we’re excited about the van.”
Going forward, a WIC mobile unit will be in Rapid City the second Tuesday of each month. “We want to reach people where they are, so this particular van is actually slated for Pine Ridge”, Lindsey says. And we’re getting two new vans. One’s going to go to Sioux Falls, and the other one will be here in Rapid.” Lindsay and her team are eager to hear feedback from the community about how to best serve those who need access to what the WIC mobile unit can provide. “We are learning a lot in the process, and we’re really excited that we’re kind of getting our feet wet in this area,” she says.
The WIC van will also have a presence at our annual Health Summit during the Black Hills Stock Show at The Monument at the end of January.
Story: Kory Lanphear