BRATTLEBORO-Vermont WIC staff came to the Windham Regional Food Security Network on Sept. 9 with a problem they can’t solve alone: Hundreds of local families who qualify for the federal nutrition program aren’t signing up.
WIC — short for the program’s formal name, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — is for expectant and new parents, infants, and children up to age 5 who face nutrition risk (a person’s likelihood of developing poor health outcomes due to a lack of adequate nutrients, a difficulty absorbing nutrients, or an increased metabolic demand from disease).
The program’s mission is to support healthy pregnancies and birth outcomes and healthy early childhood development through supplemental food, nutrition education, and referrals to healthcare and social services.
The food benefit covers fruits and vegetables, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, soy beverage, tofu, breakfast cereals, whole grains, peanut butter or beans, juice, infant foods, and iron-fortified formula.
Participants also receive nutrition counseling, lactation support, and connections to other health programs.
Enrollment also unlocks a list of unrelated discounts that many families don’t know about:
• a reduced-price Amazon Prime membership
•a car seat voucher through the Be Seat Smart program
• 10% off at the Brattleboro Food Co-op
• coupons for local produce from the Department for Children and Families’ Farm to Family program
• discounted electric, gas, and internet service
•reduced-cost pet services through the Vermont Spay Neuter Incentive Program
•benefits from Vermont Parks Forever
However, state data presented at the meeting show that among pregnant people in the Brattleboro district between 2023 and 2025, 17% were enrolled in Medicaid but not in WIC — a group that would almost certainly have qualified, since Medicaid coverage automatically satisfies WIC’s income test.
Another 26% participated in both programs, 6% used WIC only, and 51% used neither, according to Vermont Vital Statistics.
Representatives of Vermont WIC — Brattleboro office Supervisor Bi-sek Hsiao, nutritionist Kelsea Borelli, and Gabrielle Hall — presented to the network, sharing their goal of increasing participation in the greater Brattleboro area and asking community partners to help spread the word.
Why families don’t enroll
Local partners say the reasons aren’t obvious. “I don’t know why the participation rate is low in this area,” said Putney Foodshelf Executive Director Hannah Pick after the presentation. “I was so pleased to have Bi-sek and her colleagues join us to share information about WIC resources.”
Statewide research points to a cluster of causes. Vermont’s WIC Needs Assessment, published in July, found that eligible families who don’t participate often aren’t sure what the benefits actually are or whether they qualify. Others conclude that the benefits aren’t worth the time it takes to enroll or that they can’t get to an office.
Hsiao, who recently took over as WIC supervisor in Brattleboro, said she is still working through the local numbers. “I would like to understand the barriers to participation more so we can find ways to address the gaps in service,” she told The Commons.
Even with those gaps, Hsiao said Vermont compares well nationally with one of the highest WIC coverage rates — the share of eligible people who participate — in the country.
However, it seems public perception of WIC hasn’t kept pace with the program itself. Benefits are now delivered more discreetly than they used to be: on a debit card that participants swipe at the register like any other payment.
“Long gone are the days of food boxes delivered to your door,” Pick said. “This makes it much more accessible and means there’s choice at the store — and a simple swipe at the register.”
Going to the families
Rather than wait for applications, the Brattleboro office is now planning to show up where parents already gather. During the coming months, staff members intend to attend local parenting groups and playgroups, lead a baby-food-making class at the Brattleboro Food Co-op, and table at the Putney Foodshelf.
Hsiao is also looking at holding WIC clinic hours at sites outside Brattleboro, a direct response to the transportation barriers the needs assessment identified.
“I am excited to find ways for WIC to be more present in the community and to build stronger community partnerships,” she said.
Eligibility for WIC is broader than many people assume. Applicants must live in Vermont and be pregnant, breastfeeding or chestfeeding, a child under 5, or the caregiver of a child under 5 — a category that includes fathers, grandparents, foster parents, and other guardians, not just mothers.
Families qualify by having household income below WIC’s guidelines or by already receiving Medicaid, 3SquaresVT (Vermont’s name for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP), or the Reach Up program, Vermont’s financial assistance and work-support program for low-income parents with minor dependent children.
Enrollment in any one of those other programs is enough for individuals to qualify for WIC.
Statewide participation has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Vermont counted 12,202 enrollees and 10,930 active participants in January 2020. Numbers slid through 2021 and 2022, dropped sharply in late 2023, and bottomed out in 2024. They have climbed steadily since early 2025, reaching 11,298 enrolled and 10,616 active by April 2026.
As of July, 10,759 Vermonters were actively participating. Brattleboro’s numbers have been close to flat this year, moving from 547 active participants in January to 564 in July, with enrollment holding between 597 and 611.
The persistent gap between enrolled and active participants reflects families who have signed up but aren’t currently using their benefits.
Among Vermont’s 12 WIC district offices, Brattleboro has the smallest average monthly caseload in 2026 at 557. Burlington leads with 2,150, followed by St. Albans at 1,164, Rutland at 1,024, and Barre at 977. Springfield, at 565, is the only other district below 600.
Participation data, the full needs assessment, and the state’s five-year WIC strategic plan are posted on the Health Department’s WIC plans and reports page.
How to apply
Applications can be submitted at healthvermont.gov/applytowic or through a new participant portal. Families can also call the Brattleboro office at 802-257-2880, where interpretation services are available, email AHS.VDHBrattleboro@Vermont.gov, or visit the local office in person.
Healthcare providers and community organizations can refer families directly using an online referral form.
For local partners, the ask is simple.
“WIC is clearly an underutilized program that has a lot to offer, supporting those early years of pregnancy and parenting,” Pick said. “At the Putney Foodshelf, I will do what I can to support their efforts, and I encourage everyone to help raise awareness about the program.”
For more information, visit healthvermont.gov/wic.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.