Salt Lake City—State and community leaders will gather on June 26th at 5:00 PM at the Center for Families at YWCA Utah to announce that Comunidad Materna en Utah (CMU) has been awarded a $372,451 grant to implement a WIC Community Innovation and Outreach Project (WIC CIAO). WIC CIAO is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service and aims to support efforts to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative outreach strategies to increase awareness, participation, and benefit redemption in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and reduce disparities in program delivery. 

“Too many women and children in Utah are missing out on the nutrition they need in order to thrive,” said Comunidad Materna en Utah. “We are proud to be part of this critical initiative to identify new ways of connecting people to WIC.”

Comunidad Materna en Utah was selected through a highly competitive grant process. The mission of Comunidad Materna en Utah is to empower expectant moms and their families to improve parenting experiences and provide self advocacy during pregnancy, birth and postpartum process. CMU provides Prenatal Classes, Maternity Support Groups (Mental Health and Breastfeeding), Home Visits, Breastfeeding assistance, Doulas Birth and Postpartum Network and References to other community resources. 

In 2020, only 50 percent of all eligible individuals nationwide participated in WIC, equating to a shortfall of almost 6 million individuals. The WIC CIAO Project aims to change that by expanding partnerships with community organizations and using community-level data to develop and implement innovative WIC outreach efforts.

Reaching more families with WIC will have positive impacts on the community. WIC has been shown to provide wide-ranging benefits, including longer, safer pregnancies, with fewer premature births and infant deaths; improved dietary outcomes for infants and children; improved maternal health; and improved performance at school, among others. In addition to health benefits, WIC participants showed significant savings in health care costs when compared to non-participants.

In total, there are 36 WIC CIAO awardees made up of WIC state and local agencies, including tribal nations, and nonprofit entities and organizations. 

WIC CIAO is administered through a USDA cooperative agreement with the Food Research & Action Center, in partnership with the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, the Native American Agriculture Fund, and UnidosUS. WIC CIAO is part of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service broader initiative to modernize WIC.  

Visit hellowic.org to find out more about the WIC CIAO Project and awardees, and sign up for updates on WIC CIAO events and announcements. 

The press conference will take place in 

Center for Families at YWCA Utah 311 East 300 South Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Statue of Gandhi in front. Free parking is available but limited along 300 East and 300 South. Metered parking is available on 300 East.

We invite all members of the press to join.

Comunidad Materna en Utah

1578 W 1700 S #204 Salt Lake City, Utah       Ph. 801-613-0034            Email [email protected]