As coordinator of the Women, Infant and Children program for the Richmond City Health District, Lizbeth Snead wants to spread the word that WIC does more than provide supplemental foods to families. The federal program also provides grants to states for health care referrals and nutrition education for low- to moderate-income women.

“Ideally, our wish is to have WIC be known as a nutrition education program,” says Ms. Snead, who has worked with the city’s WIC program for 27 years, the last 10 of which she has been the coordinator. “We work with the families and empower them to make lifestyle changes, providing food to help them meet the goals they set for themselves,” she says.

In recognition of her work, Ms. Snead recently received the National WIC Association Leadership Award. The award is given to a person or group in local or state WIC agencies who provide WIC program development, actively provide leadership on behalf of the WIC program and demonstrate extraordinary responsiveness to a natural disaster or health crisis. While Ms. Snead says she is honored by the recognition, she says she was surprised to receive the award for what she considers “just doing my job.”

She received the award at a national event in May in Cincinnati.

Claire Sadeghzadeh, the Richmond City Health District’s community partnership coordinator, nominated Ms. Snead for the award.

“She has strengthened the partnership between RCHD’s chronic disease prevention and WIC by ensuring WIC services are a key component of the health district’s focus on building resilient communities and decreasing health disparities,” she said. The award comes a year after the Richmond Health District received a $111,704 grant from the National WIC Association Community Partnership for Healthy Mothers and Children. Ms. Snead and her staff developed and implemented ways to enroll more families eligible for WIC, such as increasing sessions for chronic disease prevention, providing referrals to the WIC program and offering training to health care professionals.

Ms. Snead, who is known as a “fierce” advocate for WIC programs and clients, encouraged her staff to create a liaison program that would allow time each month for WIC staff to visit health care providers to answer questions and distribute referral tools. Since its launch in January, the Richmond health district and WIC staff have established relationships with 25 health care providers.

In addition, a two-day training program to help improve client interaction and services helped WIC staffers better understand trauma, stress and poverty in Richmond.

Ms. Snead realizes that while the program has seen success, much work remains to be done. She plans to continue efforts to decrease health disparities among WIC families.

Meet this week’s award-winning advocate for women’s and children’s health, Lizbeth D’Surney Snead:

Place of birth: Red Bank, N.J.

Current area of residence: Henrico County.

Family: Children, Luke, 24, and Brooks, 23, and Gary York, my significant other.

How I got news about this outstanding award: Via email through the National WIC Association.

Reaction: I was confused at first. The email was addressed to the person who nominated me so at first I thought she had received it! It was a typo and eventually state WIC Director Mike Welch, called to congratulate me and then reality sank in. I was shocked and speechless. I just kept saying, “Wow,” because I knew the magnitude of the award at the national level.           

WIC is: A unique program. WIC does not just offer supplemental foods to families. It’s so much more than that. Families come to WIC to receive nutrition education and to have a full wellness screening.          

How I got involved with program:  At first I accepted a position with WIC to gain experience in nutrition with the intent of moving on after a few years. After seeing how special WIC is, believing in the program and it’s proven outcomes, I couldn’t leave!

How WIC is funded: Federally funded through the USDA.           

Number of staff: 17, made up of nutritionists, nutrition associates, nutrition assistants and breastfeeding peer counselors.

Annual budget for program: The budget for Richmond is $1,041,128. The budget for the entire state of Virginia is $32.7 million for program costs. In addition, the state spends $90 million in food costs for families.      

How do people qualify: Families must meet four requirements: Residential – Live in the city or county where they apply for WIC. 

Catagorical – Be a woman who is breastfeeding, pregnant or up to six months postpartum; an infant; or a child up to age 5. 

Financial – Meet financial requirements. WIC has working families who qualify. A family of four can make up to $44,955 annually. A family of four can consist of a woman who is pregnant and her two children. Families who receive Medicaid and SNAP automatically qualify for WIC. We like for families to call and allow us to screen them over the phone because so many people qualify for WIC and don’t realize it.

Nutrition Risk – We determine this during the application process.

How many people in Richmond receive WIC: In Richmond, the enrollment is 6,338. Enrollment in the state of Virginia is 162,667. 

Estimate of those who do not: We only serve 50 percent of those who are eligible.        

What barriers are there to enrollment: Transportation; families are unaware that they qualify for the program; and people do not know what WIC is and what we offer.       

What keeps eligible people from applying: Conflict with work and other responsibilities; after baby reaches the age of 1, families lose interest in the benefits offered; families think it takes too much time when it is really no more than an hour visit and they leave with food benefits; the foods on WIC are very specific, meaning clients can only receive certain brands and flavors of approved food items.       

What I am doing to increase enrollment: Calling clients to remind them of their appointments and calling clients who miss appointments to reschedule them; outreach efforts to private physicians and community partners; and the state WIC office has TV commercials to promote and promote awareness of WIC.      

Why program needed change: To build collaboration among community partners and to bring awareness to them and city residents about the WIC program. To give attention to WIC and remove the stigma that it is just for low-income families or the indigent population.

Innovations my staff and I spearheaded: The Liaison Program — teams of two staff visit doctor’s offices and non-profit agencies monthly to build rapport and keep them abreast of the WIC program.

Liaison program’s purpose: Capacity building and strengthen community infrastructure to improve the community’s health.

Role WIC program plays in reducing health disparities: WIC assists in chronic disease prevention and reduction by encouraging families to adopt healthy behaviors such as eating nutritious foods; providing access to healthy foods through the eWIC card; offering referrals, reducing obesity and anemia in our participants; increased immunizations rates, and most of all, our concentrated efforts in breastfeeding promotion, support and education.

Why is this important: It improves the health of our participants, decreases chronic disease and results in healthier pregnancy outcomes.            

Vision for program: To serve all eligible participants, especially children up to the age 5.

Best way to achieve goal: It continues to create better infrastructure and increased collaboration through community and clinical linkages.

What makes a good leader: One who listens and has the best interest of their staff at all times; is flexible and can admit to their own faults.

Three words that best describe me: Energetic, thoughtful and determined.

How I start the day: Sleeping until the last minute and then scrambling like crazy to get to work on time.      

A perfect evening: Sewing or making crafts while enjoying a glass of wine.  

I place top value on: People with perky personalities.

Best late-night snack: Anything with a sweet and salty combination.       

Prized possession: My home and my backyard.

Nobody knows I’m: Addicted to buying fabric — but only when it’s on sale!          

The best thing my parents ever taught me was: How to be financially responsible. Don’t buy anything until you can afford it.       

The one thing I can’t stand: People who say they are going to do something and then don’t follow through.           

Book that influenced me the most: “Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide To Cooking On Your Car Engine!” by Chris Maynard and Bill Scheller. This has helped me get through those long car trips.           

What I’m reading now: A cookbook about Spiralizing. I can’t remember the author!        

Next goal: Increase the WIC caseload.