May 28 Celebrating 50 Years of WIC in Allegheny County
(May 28, 2024)
2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known as WIC. This is especially a big deal here in Allegheny County because this was the home of the first WIC office in Pennsylvania and the second in the entire country. On May 28, 1974, the Allegheny County Health Department began supporting the nutritional needs of low-income infants, children, and pregnant and postpartum mothers.
Allegheny County celebrated this historic occasion on May 1 at the Hosanna House in Wilkinsburg. At the event, County Executive Sara Innamorato shared that the Allegheny County Health Department “proudly serves eleven thousand families in Allegheny County with WIC. And we know that that number is only about half of families that would be eligible for the program.”
As part of Thriving PA, WIC enrollment is a big focus of Allies for Children’s work. As Thriving PA reported back in 2021, “Between 2016 and 2020, Pennsylvania’s WIC participation declined by over 50,000 enrollees, which equates to a decrease of over 21%.” Because WIC funding is dependent upon enrollment, increasing participation in the program is vital in order to sustain it into the future. Through the hard work of advocates, WIC workers and participants, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the decline in enrollment has begun to reverse, increasing by 9.06% between February 2023 and February 2024. There is still work to be done, though. As the county executive said, not all families who are eligible to participate in WIC are enrolled in the program. To help make it easier for families to enroll and utilize their benefits, Allies for Children and Thriving PA are advocating for modernizations and improvements to the WIC program.
In addition to County Executive Innamorato, Allegheny County’s celebration of the 50th anniversary also featured current and former WIC participants, county WIC officials, and Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen. They spoke about current projects and initiatives in the WIC space as well as their experiences with the program. To see a video of the speeches and presentations at the celebration, click here.
In recognition of WIC’s 50th anniversary, Governor Josh Shapiro proclaimed this May to be Women, Infants, and Children Month in Pennsylvania. His proclamation specifically recognized Allegheny County’s role in the history of WIC, as well as acknowledging Pennsylvania’s successes as the state with the eighth highest participation across the country. State WIC leaders will be celebrating the anniversary in the Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg on Wednesday, May 29, at 11:00 AM.
While we continue with our advocacy work to make WIC more accessible to more families, it is important and exciting to remember how far the program has come. We are honored to be continuing the work that began here in Allegheny County half a century ago in support of some of our communities’ most vulnerable members.
Previous Bold Voices WIC blogs:
Flexibility of WIC Approved Foods Soon to Improve
WIC Federal Funding Secured, but the Work Continues
AFC and WIC in the news:
Allegheny County and Pa. health officials say they are working to reverse declines in WIC enrollment (90.5 WESA)
Laura Condon, Allies for Children Project Coordinator