In 2004, Cassandra Welchlin was a new mother battling postpartum depression who had to stop breastfeeding soon after her daughter was born. Thankfully, she told the Mississippi Free Press, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children provided money to help her buy groceries and supply dairy-free milk for her daughter, who had a dairy allergy.
“Had the government shut down during that time, I would not have benefited from the program. Thank goodness it didn’t, because I … was able to continue to receive the milk that I needed for my child,” Welchlin, who is the executive director of the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable, told the Mississippi Free Press on Tuesday. She said she also received mental-health services from the WIC program.
But now, the Mississippi WIC program is only accepting applications from pregnant women, breastfeeding women and high-risk infants during the federal government shutdown, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced on Oct. 2.
This group of people is considered Priority 1 for the WIC program and MSDH said it will continue to process and accept those applications as usual. But the agency said it will put all other applicants who do not fall within the Priority 1 category on a waitlist during the shutdown, as outlined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service.
“In the absence of federal funding, MSDH is stepping in to ensure WIC operations continue. Current WIC participants will continue receiving their benefits without interruption,” an Oct. 2 MSDH press release says.
MSDH said it is unable to accept online applications during the government shutdown. Pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and high-risk infants can call 1-800-338-6747 to schedule an in-person appointment.
Current WIC beneficiaries will still receive their benefits on time, MSDH says. The agency is able to certify applications from pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and high-risk infants during this time. MSDH said it will provide resources to applicants who the agency has to waitlist during the shutdown.
Welclin said MSDH needed to provide more information about who will and will not be waitlisted during the government shutdown.
About 80,000 Mississippian women receive support from WIC, the USDA reported in 2021. Welchlin emphasized that these women are not just numbers on a spreadsheet—they are regular people who are struggling to make ends meet and need critical assistance from the government.
“WIC is not a luxury—it’s a lifeline,” she said.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, Welchlin said the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable’s rapid response program has been providing financial assistance to needy Mississippians who can’t afford their mortgage, rent, groceries, baby supplies or utilities.
“Part of what we know is that community organizations are going to be filling in the gaps for all this,” she said. But she noted that they can only stretch so far, and the government needs to “take care of its people.”
She said the effects of WIC’s application limitations could be especially harmful for Black women living in food deserts like the Mississippi Delta. Welchlin said she worries about children going hungry because they have difficulties learning and paying attention in school when they do not have access to food.
“When you’re taking these things away, that impacts a woman’s ability, in particular if she’s experiencing mental health issues, taking away those kinds of support impacts whether she can get back on the job or not,” she said.