Hamilton County Health Department and the city of Chattanooga’s Office of Community Health are partnering to expand the Health Department’s Women, Infants and Children Program to offer mobile WIC services beginning Tuesday. WIC is a program that provides nutrition education, breastfeeding education and support, nutritious foods, and health referrals to women, infants, and children who qualify. The WIC mobile service will be available inside the East Lake Community Center every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Bilingual staff will be on-site to assist Spanish-speaking clients.
“This additional service option allows our programs to meet the community and their needs where they are, breaking down barriers," said Felicia Jenkins, regional WIC coordinator, Hamilton County Health Department. "We appreciate the partnership with the city of Chattanooga to help us expand our services and utilize our community centers. This mobile WIC will provide supplemental nutrition to help promote growth and development to women, infants, and children who qualify for the program."
“The Office of Community Health in the city of Chattanooga is excited about this partnership with the Hamilton County Health Department to open a WIC clinic in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Eastlake," said Dr. Geeta Maharaj, deputy director of the Office of Community Health and Safety for the city Chattanooga. "This partnership addresses one of the key priorities of the Mayor's One Chattanooga Plan: that all Chattanoogans have access to fresh, healthy, and affordable foods. We are grateful for the partnership and the expertise of the Health Department’s WIC team, who will provide the care. We look forward to increasing this partnership to provide more care to many of Chattanooga's underserved communities."
Appointments are required. Call 209-8050 to schedule an appointment. Participants must bring proof of ID, income and residence to receive WIC services. If applicants are on TennCare Medicaid, receive FNS SNAP benefits, or Families First, they are automatically income eligible for WIC.
Those eligible to receive WIC services are pregnant women, breastfeeding women (up to the infant’s 1st birthday), non-breastfeeding, postpartum women (up to 6 months after the birth of an infant or after pregnancy ends), infants (up to 1st birthday) and children (including foster children) up to their 5th birthday.
East Lake Community Center is at 3610 Dodds Ave. For more information call the Health Department Hotline at 209-8383. For Health Department information, visit: Health.HamiltonTN.gov.
To read this information in Spanish, visit the Health Department’s Spanish Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SaludHamiltonTN