The Vermont WIC is a US federal government sponsored program that provides nutritious foods, nutrition education, health care referrals, and breast feeding information at no cost to low-income, pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants and children.

The objective of the Vermont WIC program is to improve the health of its members by providing nutritious foods and health education. Since its introduction, the program has benefited thousands of women, infants and children of up to five years of age. This has helped lower the infant mortality rate, the number of low-weight births and pregnancy complications among women in the state.

Other services provided by the Vermont WIC program include: nutrition counseling, breastfeeding support, and health education. In order to qualify for the program one needs to meet a set of eligibility requirements, which are mainly categorical, income, and residential based.

Once you meet the basic eligibility requirements you should go ahead and apply for the program. Applying for the Vermont WIC program is a fairly easy and convenient process. Once you have submitted your application, a program representative will call you to schedule an interview and upon successful completion of the interview you will start enjoying the benefits of the program.

It should however be noted that the Vermont WIC benefits can only be used to purchase certain foods and products. These do not include alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, pet food and fast foods. A list of products that can be purchased using the Vermont WIC benefits is available on this link: www.healthvermont.gov/wic/ (Vermont WIC list of acceptable products)..

Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for the Vermont WIC program, you must meet a specified set of eligibility requirements. These requirements are broadly divided into:

• Categorical eligibility requirements
• Residential eligibility requirements
• Income eligibility requirements
• Proof of nutritional risk

Vermont WIC-Categorical Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for the Vermont WIC program, an applicant must belong to one of the three categories of women, infants or Children and meet the specific categorical eligibility requirements discussed below:

Women

To be eligible for the Vermont WIC program women need to be:

• Pregnant, be undergoing pregnancy or within 6 weeks of the birth of an infant, or at the end of a pregnancy
• Postpartum up to six months after the birth of an infant or at the end of a pregnancy
• Breastfeeding up to the infants first birthday

Infants

Infants up to the infant's first birthday

Children

Children up to five years old

Vermont WIC: Residential Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for the Vermont WIC program applicants should be residents of the state of Vermont and must either be US citizens or legal aliens who have resided in the state for at least five years.

Vermont WIC: Income Eligibility Requirements

In order to be eligible for the Vermont WIC program, applicants must meet the specified income eligibility requirements. These income guidelines are based on an income standards set by the Vermont WIC and are tabulated on the following link: www.fns.usda.gov/wic/howtoapply/incomeguidelines(WIC Income guidelines).

WIC Application Instructions

Applying for the Vermont WIC program is a simple process that can be done in three easy steps. The first step involves scheduling an appointment with a program representative by calling your local district office available on this link: www.healthvermont.gov/local/district/district_office (List of Vermont WIC district offices).

Once you have scheduled an appointment you can download and fill an application form from the following link: www.healthvermont.gov/wic/documents/WIC_Application_for_Web.pdf (Vermont WIC Application Form).

When going for the interview you should carry the filled application form along with important documents such as proof of income, residency and identification.

During the appointment you will complete a health and nutrition questionnaire and meet a Vermont WIC program representative who will verify your documents, get your weight and other measurements, talk to you about the importance of proper nutrition and ask you questions aimed at establishing your eligibility to the program.

Upon successful competition of the process, you will start enjoying the program benefits.