New Hampshire families receiving food assistance through Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, will receive their benefits through the end of November, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
The state previously secured funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure benefits for families receiving WIC assistance during the government shutdown, but that funding was only expected to last until Friday, November 7.
New funding announced on Thursday will be utilized not only to sustain benefits through the end of the month but to support initiatives offered to WIC recipients by partner agencies statewide, including nutrition education, breastfeeding support and referrals to community resources. The state has also redirected existing federal funds to support WIC families, according to DHHS.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in a press release that she personally advocated at the federal level for new funding for WIC families, urging other leaders in the nation’s capital to “get the federal government open so we have no further disruption to programs that serve our most vulnerable.”
According to DHHS, approximately 13,000 Granite Staters participate in WIC. The program deposits benefits in enrollees’ Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT, cards that they can use for specific food purchases designed to fill common nutritional gaps.
WIC recipients may put benefits toward fresh produce, dairy, whole grain products, dry legumes, culturally relevant foods, formula and other food items.