{"id":2045,"date":"2025-10-14T18:09:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2045\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T18:09:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:09:23","slug":"montefiore-health-system-opens-new-wic-center-in-throggs-neck-bronx-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2045\/","title":{"rendered":"Montefiore Health System opens new WIC center in Throggs Neck \u2013 Bronx Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"840\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image001.jpg\" class=\"crop-center wp-post-image\" alt=\"image001\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Montefiore associates, patients and local elected officials celebrated the opening of a new Montefiore WIC Program location in Throggs Neck.<\/p>\n<p>Photo courtesy Montefiore Einstein<\/p>\n<p>Montefiore Health System announced the opening of its fourth <a href=\"https:\/\/health.ny.gov\/prevention\/nutrition\/wic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Center<\/a> in Throggs Neck, which is expected to reach more than 13,000 families across the borough.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The new center, bolstered by $3.9 million in state funding, will provide Bronx families with nutrition and breastfeeding support, as well as connections to local resources.<\/p>\n<p>At a time when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bxtimes.com\/bronx-food-insecurity\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">39% of Bronx adults<\/a> report experiencing food insecurity and the cost of daily essentials remains high, programs like WIC are critical to ensuring better health for the nation\u2019s youngest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Carmen Nauta, Montefiore\u2019s WIC coordinator, said in a statement that the need for such support has only increased over recent years.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are extremely grateful for the investment New York State is making to help our families experiencing food insecurity,\u201d Nauta said. \u201cThe funding also enables our qualified nutritionists and breastfeeding counselors to provide parents with personalized guidance on how they can nourish their children and look after their own health needs at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the Bronx, the New York State WIC Program supports approximately 425,000 women, infants, and children under age five each month. In addition to nutrition education, pregnancy and breastfeeding support and funds to purchase healthy food, WIC has also added virtual assistance, expanded hours, food pantry access and other local resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The WIC program has been linked to improved health outcomes, including lower infant mortality rates, healthier births and better access to preventative and primary medical care.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, the current federal government shutdown \u2014 now nearing its third week \u2014 may put WIC recipients at risk.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Ritchie Torres held an Oct. 8 press conference to warn that WIC could run out of money if the shutdown persists.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>In his Bronx district alone, which has the highest number of WIC participants, nearly 35,000 individuals could lose benefits, as could 6.6 million others across the country, according to Torres\u2019 office.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He warned of the ripple effects of the shutdown in an Oct. 8 Instagram post.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA government shutdown in DC does not stay in DC,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can inflict damage on the development of America\u2019s children, and that damage can last a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, state health officials said the program is not expected to be affected.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the time being, WIC remains open and ready to serve families. Families should keep appointments and use benefits as usual,\u201d said Department of Health Spokesperson Melissa Crary in a statement emailed to the Bronx Times.<\/p>\n<p>Crary said the department is closely monitoring the federal situation and will keep recipients informed via the website.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Reach Emily Swanson at\u00a0eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montefiore associates, patients and local elected officials celebrated the opening of a new Montefiore WIC Program location in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,2564,2565,9,24,2566,63,2567,129,131,130,2568],"class_list":["post-2045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-government-shutdown","tag-montefiore-health-system","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-state-department-of-health","tag-nyc","tag-rep-ritchie-torres","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-wic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}