The Citizens for Citizens, Inc. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program held its 17th annual “Celebration of Parenthood” at Liberty and Union Park on Main Street, Taunton in conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week , on August 8th 2008. The theme for this year’s celebration was “Going for the Gold.” WIC Director Karen Swass said, “Breastfeeding is the gold standard of infant feeding

If the date 8/8/08 sounds familiar,  it was the day the 29th Olympiad opened in Beijing, China. In keeping with the theme of the Olympics, the sons and daughters of the WIC parents opened the celebration by marching through the park while the Olympic theme played.  The children carried flags from all over the world  and Olympic torches.

After the parade, the children participated in a brief exercise program. They were then presented with gold medals from the Mayor of Taunton, Charles Crowley.

The WIC Director and Mayor also presented awards to WIC Participants and Local Community businesses.. Awards were given in the following categories: Breastfeeding Mother, Exceptional Parenting, Foster Parenting and Community Service.

Receiving awards were:

Participant Awards:

Breastfeeding Mother: Leila Coelho
Parenting: Slam Saffiedine
Foster Parent: Charles Tower

Community Service:

Annette’s Unisex Studio
June Tsonos-A-1 Pizza

Karen Swass thanked all the organizations that had helped make the 2008 Celebration a success.

Gold Sponsor: Verc Rentals, Boston Medical Center-Health Net Plan, and Future Graphics.

Silver Sponsor: Percy, Tedeschi & Associates, PC

Bronze Sponsors: First Federal Credit Union, Karsner & Meehan PC, Princess House, Taunton Federal Credit Union and Cardi’s Furniture

In addition to the awards, there were activities for the children which included a magic show by John Henry, face painting, balloon fun, and music. Chase Farms provided free produce to the participants and cooking demonstrations were displayed.

The WIC program has been sponsored by Citizens for Citizens for  29 years and it provides dietary assessment and counseling, nutrition education, food checks, immunizations, assessment, voter registration, farmers market coupons, breastfeeding peer counselors, breastfeeding promotion and support, along with health and human service referrals.

Some of the health-related problems for children that are associated with not being breastfed are:

•    60% more likely to suffer from ear infections

•    40% more likely to get type 1 diabetes

•    40% more likely to get type 2 diabetes as an adult

•    25% more likely to become overweight or obese

•    30 more likely to suffer from leukemia

The benefits of breastfeeding for infants are:

•    Special protection that babies receive from mother’s milk

•    Mother’s milk is more easily digested

•    Breastfed babies have higher IQs

•    Mother’s milk is the perfect food for premature babies

To be eligible for the WIC Program, women must be pregnant, postpartum, have an infant or child up to age 5; must meet income guidelines, and must live in Massachusetts. TAFDC, MassHealth or Food Stamp participation makes WIC Program eligibility automatic. Foster parents may also apply.

For more information regarding eligibility, and other information concerning the WIC Program; please call (508) 823-6346 (for Taunton area residents). Persons living in the Attleboro area should call (508) 226-4543.

Tags: WIC by amello
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During the course of the Citizens for Citizens, Inc. (CFC) fiscal year, demographic information regarding more than 34,000 individuals we serve is collected, collated, and reported to the various funding agents of our programs for their statistical needs, further review, and evaluation.Shown below are examples from the CFC’s. statistical database that illustrate the economic and social difficulties faced by most CFC clients

•    A total of 7,136  families we helped through our programs have an income below  100% of the official federal poverty level [View Percentage of Poverty Graph]

•    More than 4,200 households are headed up by a single parent [View Family Type Graph]

•    Many of the individuals assisted by Citizens for Citizens work 2,559 report employment as their sole source of income with 1,392 persons working and receiving other income. [View Source of Income Graph]

•    More than 5,400 CFC clients have a high school education, and 4,961 have attained an education grade level between the 9th and 12th [View Education Level Graph]

•    There are 7,108 clients CFC served between the ages of 24 and 44, while 4,839 individuals are age 70 or older. [View Age Graph]

•    The nature of CFC ethnicity throughout the service area is changing. While our service area population remains overwhelming Caucasian at 25,324 individuals the Hispanic population represents 1,867 individuals and the African American population we serve is currently 1,583. [View Ethnicity / Race Graph]

Let’s tackle the facts one by one.

Well for starters more than 7,100 families in CFC’s service population have incomes below 100 % of the “official” poverty level for a family of three that’s $17,600.

For example if a mother or father of two school aged children worked 40 hours a week  earning $8.50 per hour (50 cents above the minimum wage) they would earn $17,680, before taxes, a mere $80.00 above the poverty line. A household with three children with the parent earning $10.00 per hour ($2.00 above the minimum wage) would earn $20,800 again, before taxes. This family is now $400 below the poverty level of $21,200 for a family of four. There are people who believe that a job paying $10.00 an hour provides an “adequate income.” Try explaining to the 4,210 households headed up by a single parent how this “adequate income” can feed, clothe and house their family.

As stated, 2,559 persons reported employment as their sole source of income with another 1,392 persons working and receiving other sources of income. The exodus of entry level manufacturing jobs have left residents in this area with little prospect of locating good-paying jobs. Today, decent paying jobs require some type of post-secondary education or advanced technical training. In this increasingly technocratic world of work, the task of an undereducated person trying to find a job that can support a family is becoming more and more difficult.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This Chinese proverb goes to the heart of education. Once you receive an education that prepares you for a good paying job that you can raise a family on no one can take that education away from you.

More than 5,400 CFC clients have graduated from high school 40 years ago that would allow a person seeking a job a leg up in a factory earning a decent living with opportunities to move up through the ranks.  Today a high school graduate can expect difficulties locating employment in a company that she or he can advance.  Most low paying service jobs; i.e., “flipping hamburgers” are manned by people holding a high school diploma.  The prospects for the 4,961 CFC clients that attained an education grade level between the 9th and 12th grade obtaining employment that can support a family is  more doubtful.

For the more than 7,000 clients receiving assistance at CFC who are between the ages of 24 and 44 there remains hope that their lot in life can change. They could relocate to another area of the country where decent paying jobs are more readily available, return to school and obtain the advanced training required to receive employment in one of the growing fields of employment; e.g., health care.

The opportunities for the 4,839 individuals are age 70 or older the circumstances are much different.  While the good news is people are living longer one outcome of this longevity is the burden of the higher cost of living on fixed incomes that many elders in CFC service area face every day. Once a year elders receiving Social Security receive a cost-of-living increase sounds good until they discover that their cost for Medicare coverage virtually wipes out the increase in their checks.

Health care cost borne by seniors with no coverage for pharmaceutical prescriptions eat away at those monthly Social Security checks as does the cost for heating their homes/apartments.

We hear the stories of seniors skimping on essentials such as reducing the amount of their medications by 50% so they can stretch their budgets for other necessary items. It’s unlikely that these seniors can move to other parts of the country to start anew or return to the work- force to supplement their income.

The ethnic make up of CFC clients has changed from years past. The 2000 United States census for the City of Fall River reported that 3.3 % of the population reported their ethnicity as Hispanic and African Americans made up 3.2%.  This past year the CFC service population for Hispanics and African Americans was 6.23 % and 5.28 % respectively.

As stated earlier the majority of the clients that CFC serves are Caucasian there’s no denying the make-up of the populations race in the cities and surrounding towns are changing. The one constant problem that CFC clients face day in and day out is the lack of money and the prospects of locating decent paying jobs, no matter what color skin they have.

Who are CFC clients?  It’s easy to forget that CFC clients are members of families; no different from other families that strive for economic gains, try to raise happy and successful children, gather for family meals, share holiday memories and grieve when loved ones are lost.

That’s who CFC clients are!

Tags: CFC, Uncategorized by amello
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