FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 7, 2022
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is pleased to announce that its mobile Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program vans has resumed service to its Upstate route beginning Wednesday, April 6, in Honea Path.
The WIC Services on Wheels (SoW) program was launched in 2017 and has been in service since, creating a one-stop shop by providing beneficial WIC services on a van that was converted into a clinic on wheels. Transportation is an identified barrier for many participants in the WIC program, and the mobile WIC vans help DHEC meet mothers, parents, and guardians where they are.
“The Services on Wheels is a wonderful resource that allows WIC staff to provide onsite certifications where potential WIC participants live, work, and play,” said DHEC’s Bureau of Community Nutrition Services Director Berry Kelly.
Though not all WIC services are provided on the van, the goal is to bring and educate people about the WIC program and get them enrolled through an easy process. Services provided include height and weight checks, hemoglobin sticks, nutrition education, breastfeeding support and more. The vans also can print WIC vouchers.
New and current participants are allowed to utilize the WIC SoW services, and participants can schedule appointments or walk up to the clinic on wheels.
Visit DHEC’s WIC Mobile Van Calendars page to see the most-recent WIC SoW calendars for each region that will consist of the date, location, and time the WIC SoW will be providing service to the community.
WIC SoW also has partnered with Head Start locations to make it easier for parents to receive combined services and during hours when the regular clinic would be closed.
Every year the WIC SoW has expanded its reach by being present at Farmers’ Markets, town halls and has taken advantage of existing partnerships such as PASOs to connect with Latino families to services in their communities.
To learn more about WIC or to make an appointment, call 1-855-4-SCDHEC (1-855-472-3432).
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