The Women, Infants and Children program in Alaska is widely used, especially in remote parts of the state where food is substantially more expensive. But when a rural market closes, changes ownership or moves to a new location, WIC goes with them, leaving owners, new or old, to reapply.
With the demise of OMNI Enterprises, several rural grocery stores it owned are now in the process of reapplying to be WIC vendors, while a new grocery store in Kotzebue and the temporary store in Kivalina -- that has replaced the Native Store, which burned down in December -- have been waiting for months to become vendors of the program.
WIC is a supplemental food program for pregnant women and new families with young children. Families can use WIC vouchers to buy formula, eggs, milk and cereal, among other healthy options to complement their diets. The program also offers health education and referrals to various social service agencies.
Until last week, new vendor applications were not being accepted, leaving those left in a lurch wondering what was causing the delay, and ultimately a potential loss in business.
Those waiting to apply were feeling exasperated and confused as they were told the process would be open month after month since late last year, said North Star Market manager Seth Piper from Kotzebue.
Piper said he was told new federal regulations were, in part, causing the holdup. He has been calling the state and trying to negotiate the online application process for months, he said. The application links on the website looped back to a home page without actually presenting the necessary forms.
"Essentially, the other stores that do offer WIC, they have no competition," Piper said. But late last week, Piper got word the hold on new applications had suddenly changed and an application was in the mail.
On Friday, Kathleen Wayne, the family nutrition program manager with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, said the moratorium on new applications is over and businesses are welcome to apply.
"I want to let everybody know we are taking applications," she said Friday. "We did put a moratorium on new vendors as we were moving into a new computer system."
The hold on applications lasted from this past fall until last week.
"We had to freeze the database so we couldn't make changes," Wayne said. "Since then, we have also had new federal regulations on our food list."
These variables caused the hold on new applications and though vendors are now able to apply -- inactive application links on the state's website will also be fixed this week, Wayne said -- there will be changes to the food list coming in the fall that new and returning vendors should be aware of.
Once vendors submit all the necessary paperwork, the process takes about a month to complete, Wayne said.
"The State WIC agency partners with vendors to assure that participants have access to the nutritious foods prescribed for their needs," according to the state website. "The criteria for a vendor to be authorized include: submission of a vendor application, meeting all selection criteria, having a satisfactory store inspection, stocking the required WIC foods and/or infant formulas and selling them at competitive prices. Stores authorized as WIC vendors must comply with federal and state regulations, policies and procedures."
The process for stores to apply to become a WIC vendor is not an easy one, and includes providing the state with WIC-specific inventory lists and hosting on-site visits. Stores must also become SNAP (food stamps)-approved vendors before they are approved for WIC. But when an application is approved, the service provided to the community is invaluable, said Kotzebue WIC coordinator Tracy Gregg.
"It helps subsidize food costs, especially for moms who are unable to, or choose not to, breastfeed because the cost of formula can be very prohibitive," Gregg said. "The fact that we can provide that helps ease the burden a little bit."
Gregg said she was told WIC would not be accepting new vendor applications until July and was pleased with the news that applications will be taken before that.
In the Northwest Arctic, there are 13 WIC-approved grocery stores, including two, soon to be three, in Kotzebue. The store in Kivalina, while it has been dealing with delays as well, is currently getting WIC-approved foods through a mail-in vendor authorization from Anchorage. The situation is not ideal, but until it can get vendor approval, it's the next best solution, said Gregg.
"They don't get to choose what they get and the vendor that's mailing to them rotates what they send, so they're not getting the same items," Gregg said. "They've really been pushing to get the temporary store up and running with WIC but the state said 'No, we're not able to take any new applications…' so I'm glad to hear that's changing."
In fiscal year 2014, there were just more than 20,000 WIC participants in Alaska, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That number has been dropping steadily over the past several years from more than 27,000 in the 2010 fiscal year.
In Dillingham, while N&N Market was gearing up for its reopening this week, there will be a delay while managers reapply for WIC. The grocery store was owned by OMNI but switched hands last month. OMNI grocery stores have closed in Togiak, Bethel, Big Lake and Glennallen with most planning on reopening as markets.
"That is in the process and hopefully that will be taken care of real soon," said William Miller, the general manager of N&N Properties (formerly N&N Market) in Dillingham, which was a WIC vendor under OMNI ownership.
"The store here in Dillingham probably won't be open until the sixth of April and it might take a couple of weeks after that to (provide WIC)."
Miller thanked customers for their patience in the transition time and assured Dillingham residents WIC will be set up as soon as possible.
"It's quite a process, but if it wasn't for WIC a lot of mothers and children wouldn't be able to acquire the healthy food that they need."
This story first appeared in The Arctic Sounder and is republished here with permission.