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Georgia WIC serves income-eligible women, infants and children who are: infants or children aged 1-5 years old, pregnant or breastfeeding women, postpartum women (up to six months) and Georgia residents. (Andrea Gutierrez/The Oglethorpe Echo)
An updated electronic system has simplified grocery shopping for families with infants and small children with the introduction of eWIC by the Oglethorpe County Health Department.
WIC refers to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, a federal program which provides financial support to low-income women and their children, as well as general healthcare referrals and counseling.
The WIC program is used by approximately 264 residents in Oglethorpe County, or 1.74% of the county population. The new system began on Oct. 11.
Tammy Watkins, general store manager at Bell’s Food Store in Lexington, described the key foods mothers buy using WIC funds.
“Formula, baby food, fruit juice (that) has to be 100% juice, yogurt, eggs, fresh produce, fresh vegetables and rice cereal for babies,” Watkins said.
EWIC establishes a new electronic system for issuing WIC benefits, which is loaded onto a physical eWIC card, which can be used like credit cards. Previously, the WIC program used paper vouchers assigned to each eligible family member.
The new system aims to minimize the hassle previously associated with the voucher system, such as slower grocery checkouts and lost vouchers.
Watkins, who has worked at Bell's for 26 years, said the eWIC card is easier to process than the old vouchers.
“Each voucher takes time of its own (to scan), but with the card, you can ring it all up at one time and then just scan the card,” Watkins said.
The Oglethorpe County Health Department, alongside other Northeast Health District locations, was closed the week of Oct. 3 for staff training.
Chelsea Freeman, director of Nutrition Services at the Northeast Health District’s main office, said in an emailed statement that all WIC staff were required to view four hours of computer-based training modules created by the DPH Georgia State WIC office, followed by a four-day virtual training course with state WIC officials.
The routines and procedures aren’t drastically different from the previous system, Freeman said, with the exception of staff uploading the documents into the new system for paperless charting of WIC benefits.
To Sign Up
To sign up for WIC, Oglethorpe County residents can call or visit the Oglethorpe County Health Department and set up an appointment for WIC services (no forms necessary), or submit an application online at the Georgia Gateway portal at gateway.ga.gov/access