The Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) Program at Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation (JFCAC) announces that a contract to continue to provide WIC services for federal fiscal year 2023

Hillsboro, MO, October 18th, 2022 - Hillsboro, MO – Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation announces a contract continuance to provide WIC services for federal fiscal year 2023 has been signed with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.​

Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a special supplemental nutrition program providing services to pregnant women, new mothers, infants and children up to their 5th birthday based on nutritional risk and income eligibility. The primary services provided are healthy, supplemental food, risk assessment, nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding promotion and support, health screening and referrals to health care. To be eligible for WIC, applicants must have an income of less than or equal to 185% of the poverty level and be at nutritional risk. Migrant families are also eligible.

WIC supplemental food packages are specially chosen to provide foods high in protein, iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C. Eligible women and children receive fortified milk and cheese, eggs, whole grain bread products, hot or cold cereals, 100% fruit juices, and fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. The WIC program recommends breastfeeding, provides breastfeeding support, baby foods, and infant cereal. For women who cannot or choose not to breastfeed, infants may receive supplemental, iron fortified formula. WIC participants obtain their foods by using their eWIC cards for specific items at participating local grocery stores and pharmacies.

Studies confirm that pregnant women who enroll in WIC during the early months of pregnancy have fewer low birth weight babies, experience fewer infant deaths, see the doctor earlier in pregnancy and eat healthier.

WIC is administered in Jefferson County by Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation (JFCAC). Persons interested in applying or who are in need of more information should contact the JFCAC at 636-789-2686 Option 5. WIC clinics are offered at 105 Municipal Drive Hillsboro, MO 63050 on Mondays and Thursdays and at 1818 Lonedell Road Arnold, MO. 63050 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Both locations are open from 8 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Thursday. JFCAC WIC clinics are closed on Fridays and State holidays.

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights

1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or

fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or

email: program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

To download or view income guidelines, click here.

​Due to the up-coming Labor Day holiday, all locations for JFCAC will be closed Monday, September 5th, 2022. This includes #2 Merchant, 3rd Street, Arnold WIC clinic, Head Start, and Saint Clair locations. Regular office hours will resume the next day.

Due to the Annual All Staff meeting, all locations for JFCAC will be closed, Wednesday, August 17th, 2022. This includes #2 Merchant, 3rd Street, Arnold WIC clinic, Head Start and Saint Clair locations. Regular office hours will resume the next day.

All JFCAC offices and facilities will be closed on Monday, May 30th in observance of Memorial Day. Take this time to reflect upon all the sacrifices of the brave men and women of our US military. Please have a safe and memoriable holiday weekend.

Due to the upcoming winter weather storm warning, all offices for Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation will be closed at 2 PM today.  This includes the #2 Merchant, 3rd Street, Arnold WIC clinic, and Saint Clair locations. 

​FORMULA RECALL
 
Similac Infant Powdered Formula has been recalled. 
Also recalled are Alimentum and EleCare.  
 
So what do I do?  
 

• Verify that the product’s lot number has been recalled by using the Abbott Product Lookup (similacrecall.com)
• Immediately stop feeding your infant any recalled formula.  
• Keep your cans of formula for return or exchange.
• You may return your formula to the store for an exchange of new formula.  If unable to exchange at the retailer, participants may call Similac customer service at 1-800-986-8540 for information on a refund or replacement.
• If you still have formula benefits on your eWIC card for February, bring your card to the WIC office for a switch to ready to feed or concentrate formula. 
• You may purchase equivalent formulas of other brands with your SNAP benefits or other funds. 
• For special formulas,  please contact your doctor to switch to an equivalent formula. 
• Never dilute infant formula or feed homemade infant formula to infants.
• Refer to the CDC’s handout for guidance on safe formula preparation.
• Please call JFCAC WIC at 636-789-2686 Option 5 with any questions.  Please leave a message and be patient with WIC Staff, as the phones and clinic will be busy due to this recall. 

WIC OFFICE HOURS 
636-789-2686
Option 5 
                      
Hillsboro location:                                      Arnold location:                                                     
105 Municipal Drive                                     1818 Lonedell Rd
Hillsboro, MO 63050                                    Arnold, MO 63010
Monday and Thursday                                 Tuesday and Wednesday
8:00 am to 5:30 pm                                           8:00 am to 5:30 pm
                        Closed from noon to 1:00 pm for lunch 
 
 
This institution is an equal opportunity provider. 

Due to the Winter Weather All JFCAC offices will be closed Wednesday, February 2nd and Thursday February 3rd.
Thank you and stay safe!

Hillsboro, MO, January 1st, 2022 - The Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) Program at Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation (JFCAC) announces that a contract to continue to provide WIC services for federal fiscal year 2022 has been signed with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Under the terms of the contract, the JFCAC WIC Program will be able to serve more than 2500 persons eligible for WIC every month.

WIC is a special supplemental nutrition program providing services to pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women, infants and children up to the age of five. WIC provides breastfeeding education and support, health screening, nutrition education and counseling, and referrals to community resources.

Nutritious supplemental food is provided at no cost to participants. 
To be eligible for WIC, applicants must have an income of less than or equal to 185% of the poverty level (for example, a family of four with an annual gross income of $49,025 or less). Those with MO HealthNet, SNAP, or TANF are automatically income eligible. Migrant families and foster children are also eligible. 

WIC supplemental foods are specially chosen to provide protein, iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C. Eligible women and children can receive fresh and/or frozen fruits and vegetables, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, peanut butter, beans, whole grain products (bread, tortillas, pasta, rice), hot or cold cereals, and more.

The WIC program recommends breastfeeding, provides breastfeeding support, baby foods and infant cereal. For women who are unable or choose not to breastfeed, infants may receive supplemental iron fortified formula.

WIC participants obtain their foods by redeeming food benefits loaded on their eWIC card for specific items at local grocery stores and pharmacies. 

Studies confirm that pregnant women who enroll in WIC during the early months of pregnancy have fewer low birth weight babies, experience fewer infant deaths, obtain prenatal care earlier in pregnancy and eat healthier. 

WIC is administered in Jefferson County at JFCAC (Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation). Persons interested in applying or who are in need of more information should contact the JFCAC WIC Program at 636.789.2686 Option 5. Information can also be found on the website, www.jfcac.org/wic and on the JFCAC Facebook page, @JFCACmo.  

JFCAC WIC Program services are offered in Hillsboro on Mondays and Thursdays and in Arnold on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Appointments are available at both sites from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM and from 1 PM to 4:30 PM. Evening hours are available by appointment only. Clinics are closed from 12-1 PM for lunch. 

The Hillsboro clinic is located at 105 Municipal Drive (JFCAC lower level). The Arnold clinic is located at 1818 Lonedell Rd (Jefferson County Health Department lower level). ​

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

WIC continues to offer in-person and curbside services for all participants during the COVID 19 Pandemic. The WIC participant is given a choice of an in-person appointment or a curbside appointment. In-person appointments are offered in Hillsboro on Monday and in Arnold on Tuesday. Curbside days are Wednesday in Arnold and Thursday in Hillsboro.   

If participants choose an in-person appointment, they have a traditional in-person WIC appointment, with face-to-face nutrition counseling and height, weight, and hemoglobin (iron) checks as needed. WIC benefits are loaded on the eWIC card in the office and given to the WIC participant in person.   
 
If participants choose a curbside appointment, they come to their WIC appointment at their scheduled time and check-in via an app called MyMobileCheckIn. Once checked in, WIC staff will go to the participant’s vehicle and retrieve the eWIC card, call the participant from inside the WIC clinic and complete the appointment over the phone, load the eWIC card with the benefits and return the card to the participant in their vehicle. For curbside appointments, height, weight, and hemoglobin checks are waived.   

The change to eWIC was implemented at the end of 2020.  Gone are the old paper WIC checks! Staff and participants alike are loving the convenience of the new eWIC card.  Did you know that Missouri WIC now has an app? The WIC Shopper App can be downloaded to a phone or mobile device and provides real-time info regarding WIC benefits. One can check the WIC balance on the eWIC card (the participant’s card must be linked), scan items at the grocery store to check if they are WIC approved, find healthy recipes, view the WIC approved foods, report issues with redeeming benefits to the State and more! This is a free and helpful tool for all WIC families.    

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Lung Cancer is the leading cancer killer of both men and women in the U.S. every year. It kills more people annually than breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer combined. Currently, 1 in 16 people in the U.S. can expect to receive a lung cancer diagnosis, which is 1 out of every 15 men, and 1 out of every 17 women. About an estimated 132,000 lung cancer deaths are expected to occur in 2021 in the U.S., accounting for about 18% of all cancer deaths nationwide. If you want more facts about lung cancer, visit this link: Lung Cancer Facts: 29 Statistics and Facts | LCFA (lcfamerica.org).  
​
Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for lung cancer. Therefore, research is even more important. New research is making it possible for people to live with their lung cancer and manage it like a chronic disease, but until a cure is found, continued research and testing will be vital.  

With November being Lung Cancer Awareness Month, there is no better time to help create awareness to this terrible disease and help find solutions and fund research. There are many things you can do. You can make donations to lung cancer foundations and research centers. You can make a Facebook fundraiser. You could also donate a vehicle. If you are interested in helping, use this link to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America’s website and find what is best for you out of the many donation options available: Donate to Lung Cancer Research | Lung Cancer Foundation of America (lcfamerica.org).  

Lung cancer is a terrible disease that takes way too many lives each year. It is important for all of us to continue to help fund research and create awareness. Make sure you are doing your part this November and help fight this disease and find the solution to rid of lung cancer for good. Together, we can all make a difference! ​

On October 14, JFCAC partner with multiple agencies for the Jefferson County Project Homeless Connect (JCPHC) event. The lead agency was Comtrea, with other agencies such as Jefferson College, Arsenal Credit Union, the Jefferson County Health Department, as well as a few others, participating in the event. This event brought social service providers together to connect to individuals and families who are homeless or at risk for homelessness with the services they need in one place, on one day. The event was held at the First Baptist Arnold in Arnold, MO.  

The JCPHC had three main goals, which were: Generating public awareness, reducing barriers and improving access to services for homeless individuals and families, and engaging and increasing the collaborative involvement of homeless consumers, businesses, the non-profit community, and individual volunteers to create solutions to end homelessness. There were 32 vendors available at the event, plus an additional 27 community volunteers.  

The event saw 26 participants walk through the door. Of those 26 participants, we were able to reach 64 of their family members with potential services. Of those 64 participants, 36 are staying in hotels/motels, 1 is staying home, 3 are staying in their cars, 2 are staying in the parking lots, 8 are with friends, and 13 are currently in homeless shelters. Also, of those 64 homeless, 30 of them were children aged 17 and under. Two of them were aged 18-29, eight were 30-29, five were 40-49, eight were 50-59, and four were 60-69. There were also two veterans served.  

Overall, the event was a success and the goals of the JCPHC were reached. Many homeless were able to connect with vendors for the services they needed and will receive the help they need moving forward. If you would like to learn more about the event or the other vendors involved in the event, or check out some of the photos from the event, visit the Jefferson County Project Homeless Connect Facebook Page at this link: Project Homeless Connect-Jefferson County, MO - Home | Facebook.  ​

Checkout this article regarding our Emergency Rental Assistance Program which was published in the Arnold-Imperial Leader on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021