Years of service survey – deadline extended to June 15.
The WIC and CSFP service awards honor individuals with significant years of service working in those programs to improve the nutrition status and health of mothers, infants, and children, and seniors.
WIC Coordinators – for a link to the survey and additional details refer to our MN WIC 2024 Training Conference webpage under years of service submission.
Please complete the survey even if you don’t have staff eligible for a service award. This will help us ensure all agencies are accounted for. Thank you.
Worked for WIC over 30 years? We want to hear from you!
The Midwest Regional Office plans to highlight WIC’s 50th year celebration in their "At the Table" newsletter this summer and/or a post in USDA’s X account by featuring staff interviews from each Midwest state. They are asking each state to identify and collect information from long-tenured local and state agency staff. We will submit multiple staff for consideration, and they will select some to highlight.
If you have worked 30 years or longer, please fill out the My WIC Journey survey by Friday, May 24 and send a photo to tina.breitenbach@state.mn.us.
Celebrating 10 years of advancing women’s economic well-being
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Ten years ago, the Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA) was signed into law, strengthening workplace protections for women, advancing equal pay, training women for higher-wage jobs and supporting women entrepreneurs, among other priorities.
Celebrate WESA's 10-year anniversary on May 13, from 8 a.m. to noon, and learn the history and impact of WESA, improvements to the law, the current economic status of women in Minnesota, unfinished business, and more. Space is limited and registration is required. Food and refreshments will be provided.
- When: Mon., May 13, 2024, from 8 a.m. to noon.
- Where: Minnesota Senate Building, Room 1200, 95 University Ave. W., St. Paul.
- Price: FREE
Find more information at Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA) 10-year anniversary event.
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May is mental health awareness month
MDH has created a messaging toolkit that includes ideas and resources to raise awareness around mental health and suicide prevention. It includes key messages organized around five weekly themes that can be used for emails, newsletter content, social media posts, images, as well as additional resources to supplement existing activities.
Help promote well-being activities and tag your positive initiatives using #YouMatterMN.
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Highlight WIC staff during National Breast/chestfeeding Month
The WIC Midwest Regional Office (MWRO) plans to highlight local agency WIC staff each breastfeeding awareness week throughout National Breast/chestfeeding Month in a variety of ways, such as social media posts, newsletter articles, and/or videos. Please email Carrie Klun by Tuesday, May 28, if you are representative of one of the following weeks and are interested in sharing your experience.
- National WIC Breastfeeding Week & World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7)
To align with the theme of World Breastfeeding Week, “Closing the Gap”, MWRO seeks to highlight staff who have been able to expand their breastfeeding knowledge and career opportunities through WIC, along with ways that WIC is working to close the gap in breastfeeding rates.
- Indigenous Milk Medicine Week (August 8-14)
- Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Breastfeeding Week (August 15-21)
- Black Breastfeeding Week (August 25-31)
- Workplace Lactation Week (September 1-7)
MWRO seeks to feature WIC staff who are currently breastfeeding or pumping at work and highlight how WIC supports breastfeeding staff in the workplace, e.g., a local agency who allows breastfed babies to accompany parents at work.
- Semana de la Lactancia Latina (Latina Breastfeeding Week) (September 5-11)
New breastfeeding resource available:
The new My Breastfeeding Hospital Goals Checklist is a great resource to use for anticipatory guidance on breastfeeding during the hospital stay. The checklist is available in English, Spanish and Somali. Thank you to Hennepin County WIC for sharing this resource.
Save the date: new breastfeeding trainings
Registration will open soon for two new breastfeeding trainings:
- Lactation Pain Management: Symptoms, Causes & Solutions on Wednesday, July 17, 8 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.
- Untangling Low Milk Supply on Tuesday, August 13, 8 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Visit the MWR OA Grant-Funded Breastfeeding Trainings website to sign up for these and all our other WIC sponsored lactation trainings for 2024.
Local agency staff should talk to their supervisor for approval before registering for training.
The Week Ahead
Check out upcoming trainings and meetings: Local Agency WIC Calendar
Find new job opportunities on the WIC Job Postings webpage. This week includes:
- Anoka County WIC Nutrition Educator
- Otter Tail County WIC Nutritionist
Submit job postings using the WIC Job Postings survey.
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