Black History Month 2024
Black History Month 2024
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In 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through a cooperative agreement with USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), awarded $16 million in subgrants funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to 36 projects aimed at testing innovative outreach strategies to increase participation and equity in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The WIC Community Innovation and Outreach Project (WIC CIAO) subgrantees include WIC state and local agencies and community-based organizations, including four subgrants led by tribal nations or entities.
Reproductive Health Impact: The Collaborative for Equity & Justice (RH Impact), a Black women-led organization and one of the nation’s leading advocacy organizations with expertise in Black and African American maternal health, reproductive health and infant mortality crises, leads the Reproductive Health Impact WIC CIAO Project. This project seeks to strengthen the WIC program and increase the uptake of WIC resources before, during and in the aftermath of natural disasters and emergencies among Black and African American families in Southeast Louisiana.
To better understand the project’s impact, we spoke with both Kiley Mayfield, RH Impact Director of Community Power Building, and Tarase Carter, RH Impact Specialist of Community Power Building, who have 24 years of combined experience in public health, maternal and child health, community engagement and community advocacy for Black and Brown women and children.
What is the Reproductive Health Impact WIC CIAO Project? What sets this project apart from other WIC initiatives across the state and country?
Our WIC CIAO project focuses on WIC and disaster readiness in Southeast Louisiana (SELA), which includes Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parish. Crescent City Family Services, a WIC office local to Region 1, serves as our partner for the project. What sets this project apart is that it seeks to increase WIC service uptake and retention before, during and in the aftermath of natural disasters and emergencies for an area that has experienced back-to-back emergencies in recent years. SELA is located on the Gulf of Mexico, an area that historically has been prone to experience severe hurricanes and flooding. Additionally, climate change has contributed to increases in tornado activity in the region. Couple the natural disasters with a global pandemic and the burden becomes even greater on not only the WIC offices to ensure access to resources but also our under-resourced communities. For a population that is already experiencing low food security, natural disasters and pandemics serve as added barriers to accessing nutritious and varied foods.
What is at the heart of the RH Impact mission?
Serving and uplifting Black and African American women and communities is at the heart of RH Impact’s mission. The vision of the organization is to create a world where Black and African American communities can achieve our full potential for reproductive health, wellbeing, safety and joy.
Could you paint a picture of your community for us (population, geography, topography, demographics)? Why is addressing structural inequalities so crucial in reducing disparities in WIC program participation and delivery?
Region 1 is one of the most population-dense regions in Louisiana and is truly a flavorful community gumbo pot, full of beautiful diverse people and cultures. Black and African American people make up one third of the population and other groups represented include White, Indigenous, Vietnamese, Latino/a/x, Middle Eastern and Croatian communities. There is also a mixture of Creole and Cajun cultures throughout. Multiple bodies of water, such as the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, Gulf of Mexico, coastal bayous and swamp land, are at or below sea level and surround Region 1—particularly Orleans and Plaquemines Parish. In recent years, subtropical climate and climate change have heavily contributed to the probability of the area experiencing weather-related disasters and state of emergencies. The spread of disease or virus, like COVID-19, is also influenced by the climate. Region 1 is prone to tropical storms and hurricanes, and has experienced unprecedented tornadoes in recent years.
The 2023 March of Dimes Report Card gave Louisiana an ‘F’ as its preterm birthrate (PTB) was 13.3 percent. This rate indicates that babies born to Black and African American mothers and birthing people are 1.5 times more likely to be preterm than all other babies. While the report did not include exact rates for Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parish, it did give Jefferson and Orleans Parish an ‘F’ with a 12 percent PTB and 13.5 percent PTB, respectively. In general, proper nutrition and a healthy maternal diet decrease the likelihood of preterm births and other adverse birth and perinatal outcomes. Participating in WIC can be a first line of defense to maternal warning signs and infant health issues because participants have various touchpoints with the WIC services.
It is crucial to address structural inequalities and reduce disparities and misconceptions about the WIC program, participants, eligible participants, community partners and vendor participation. In Region 1, structural inequalities severely impact delivery of WIC programming for Black and African American women, communities who are more susceptible to experience adverse maternal health, infant health and birth outcomes compared to any other group. Some examples of structural inequalities that impact access to and participation in WIC services include transportation barriers, limited access to food retail sites, lack of affordable housing and lack of WIC offices and facilities. Living in an area with limited access to food retail sites and with limited qualified WIC vendors makes obtaining nutritious, healthy foods challenging. Typically, corner stores outnumber grocery stores. In Region 1, most WIC offices are in Jefferson and Orleans Parish. There is only one WIC office in St. Bernard Parish and there are none in Plaquemines Parish. Another contributing factor is interpersonal racism, which leads to poor treatment and stigma against participants and interested parties. This can deter WIC participation frequency and program enrollment.
What are the biggest challenges in providing WIC resources before, during and in the aftermath of natural disasters and pandemics among Black and African American families? How do you intend to overcome them?
Sharing information with communities is oftentimes stifled by limited communication pathways, which limits who receives the necessary information. This breakdown in communication creates issues in continued access to services during and in the aftermath of disasters or emergencies. For instance, finding information on access to WIC services and functioning vendors during emergencies and disaster-induced displacements is challenging and not easily accessible for the public. Additionally, WIC has not seized the opportunity to create robust community partners and partnerships. Many non-traditional organizations that service WIC-eligible families are not aware of WIC’s disaster-related protocols, resources or services that would benefit the communities they serve.
We hope to help address these challenges by offering recommendations for state agencies that create policies, programming and materials. Solutions to address the identified challenges include:
Using multiple lines of consistent, proactive and accessible communication (e.g., social media, text messaging service, emails, website) with Black and African American individuals who are eligible or already participate in WIC. Social media campaigns are a great tool to reach communities in preparation for emergencies (i.e., launching a campaign a month before hurricane season).
Improving communication with program and technical support for local vendors, contractors and community partners. This helps streamline support for participants during and in the aftermath of emergencies.
Providing easily accessible, culturally competent infographics or one-pagers detailing requirements to continue WIC services without delay or lapse, regardless of whether in-state or out-of-state.
Providing easily accessible, culturally competent infographics or one-pagers detailing emergency preparedness.
Establishing clear communication between WIC staff and contractors on emergency plans and procedures.
Creating functional partnerships with non-traditional and local partners in the area to address the lack of WIC services throughout Region 1.
A key element of this year’s Black History Month is celebrating Black and African American cultural movements, defined as a “group of people working together to advance certain cultural goals.” How will RH Impact advance health, justice and racial equity so that Black and African American communities in Southeast Louisiana can access WIC resources and thrive?
In collaboration with the community, RH Impact will apply research, evaluation capacity-building and power-shifting strategies to inform systems that achieve reproductive, maternal and child health equity. We center the lived experiences of Black and African American women and communities in all our efforts. Community members will help guide material development to ensure materials are culturally relevant so Black and African American communities in SELA can access WIC resources and thrive. We will continue to support, promote and uplift WIC’s efforts and services.
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RH Impact has created many great resources to support Black and African American women and communities reach their full potential for reproductive health, wellbeing, safety and joy. Among these resources is Building Your Perinatal Care Team, an e-book and infographic developed to educate mothers, birthing people and healthcare stakeholders about the diverse range of healthcare partners who offer support through a range of reproductive and sexual health events, such as pregnancy, infertility, loss and the postpartum period. These materials are culturally appropriate, trauma-informed and gender inclusive. RH Impact created this resource to offer informational support during a time that can be overwhelming for people and their families.