WIC services return to Owen County

Owen County residents will now be able to seek nutritional and breastfeeding services closer to home with the county’s newly opened Women, Infants and Children (WIC) office.

The office opened Sept. 11 inside the New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center at 189 S. Main St. in Spencer. It’s the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for women, infants and children and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays.

The WIC office offers a range of services, specifically aimed at “improving access to nutritious foods and promoting healthier eating and lifestyles,” according to its website.

Samantha Branning, coordinator for the Morgan and Owen County WIC offices, said the center offers nutrition and health screening assessments, nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding education and support, referrals to other Indiana Health family and social service providers and supplemental healthy foods “designed to meet special nutrition needs.”

The Owen County WIC office is operated under IU Health and opened this year after closing in 2025, Branning said. The office offers all WIC services provided by locations statewide. However, Branning said as the Owen County program settles in, future developments could look like expanding its hours and service availability.

WIC funding is based on office caseloads, Branning said, and before the old county office closed, it served around 275 participants. Moving forward, the newly opened office will keep data on the participants getting enrolled, which could lead to more employees and days it's open.

Right now, the office has one clerk, two nurses or dieticians and three breastfeeding team members.

Stacy Kristoff, director of New Beginnings, said having a local office for Owen County families is valuable because of the group of people it is designed to serve. According to the Indiana Department of Health, to be eligible for WIC benefits, applicants must be Indiana residents and be “categorically eligible.” This includes pregnant or breastfeeding women, non-breastfeeding postpartum women, infants and children under 5.

Additionally, the applicant must be “at nutritional risk” and “income eligible.” The nutritional risk requirement is determined through the health and dietary assessment performed at the time of certification. The income-based requirement includes families receiving Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits. Others may meet the income requirement based on their income in accordance with household size.

“Some of these people who need those services and with the price of gas, they were having to go to Greencastle or Bloomington to have their WIC appointment,” Kristoff said. “If we can have that service right here in our county and save those families every little bit that we can and make sure that these babies have the food and care that they need, I think that’s the value.”

Branning seconded this, saying the rural population in Owen County already often must drive to other counties for services, and the families served at WIC offices already are facing higher barriers than others. Having an office in the county is closer and can provide resources for families at little to no cost.

“I love WIC,” Kristoff said. “I think it’s a fantastic resource for our community.”

New Beginnings and the WIC office, although housed at the same location, operate independently, with the IU Health office being open on Fridays, the weekday the pregnancy center is closed. The WIC office uses the center’s lobby, restroom and two offices.

However, Branning said WIC refers some of its clients to New Beginnings, one of the ways the two collaborate because they share clients in the same stages of life.

The office also makes referrals to healthcare providers, food pantries, Head Start, immunization programs and other needs.

Branning said the center is working to transfer people who were traveling for services into the Owen County office. To start receiving assistance at the new office, people can call 765-813-7828.

“We definitely have the capability to continue taking on new clients and hope to continue to grow our caseload and the impact that we can make in Owen County,” Branning said.