WIC (Women, Infants & Children) Program
The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk.
WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselors
WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselors provide personalized, mother-to-mother support to help families feel encouraged, informed, and confident throughout their breastfeeding journey. Peer Counselors are available to answer questions, address concerns, and offer practical guidance to help you meet your breastfeeding goals.
Support is available in person at the WIC clinic or by phone. Peer Counselors can help with topics such as breastfeeding basics, infant feeding cues, normal newborn behavior, milk supply, pumping, returning to work or school, and understanding infant sleep and crying patterns.
Breastfeeding consult appointments are also available and may include a weight check to help monitor your baby’s growth and ensure they are gaining weight appropriately. Breastfeeding classes and additional support resources are available to help families prepare for and continue breastfeeding with confidence.
Community Partners
Community partners within this priority represent a wide range of programming aimed at improving the health of mothers and their children. Below is a list of our current partners with details on the programming they offer.
- Healthy Babies offers perinatal care coordination aimed at prevention, education and early intervention to enhance the health and lives of infants, young children and
- Healthy Families is a long-term home visiting program and that helps pregnant moms and parents of newborn infants by offering support about child development,
- The St. Joseph County Health Department (SJCHD) Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Program examines the social, economic, cultural, health, safety and systems issues related
Beacon Community Impact Programs
In addition to our externally funded community partners, Beacon Community Impact provides the following programming within our Healthy Family Priority:
- Offered to low-income families in Elkhart and Saint Joseph Counties, the BABE Store provides basic supplies, such as diapers or clothes, in exchange for
- The Childhood Safety Class is designed to educate on a different safety topic each month. Topics are usually geared to seasons or any issue
- Program for fathers or father figures to build awareness of child development and the effects of ACEs. Program is designed to be an advocacy-based
- FISP provides basic prenatal care education and uses best practices to lessen the likelihood that infants in the program are born preterm or at
- Provides sickle cell education, resource material, outreach and awareness activities for professionals, students, and the wider community.
- Care coordination for infants who test positive for sickle cell trait.
- Provides safe sleep education to families to reduce instances of infant mortality through SUIDs. Participants of the program receive education about proper safe sleep
- 574.647.2100 or 574.647.2175 Women, Infants and Children programs provides supplemental foods, health care referrals and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding postpartum