How To Apply For WIC in Houston

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In this community resource guide, you will learn how to apply for WIC benefits in Houston.

To start the process you will need to make an appointment at your Houston WIC office. You can do this either by visiting as a walk-in or calling them directly.

WIC is a program that not only provides free formula but lots of other supportive services that this guide will discuss.

I’m Nick Bryant, a case manager with over 13 years of experience. I connected nearly 7,000 clients to supportive services like WIC, so if you have questions after reading this article feel free to comment below and I will help you out.

There is a lot to discuss regarding the WIC enrollment process, so let’s dive in!

What Is WIC?

Is a state program that provides supplemental food assistance, nutrition education and breastfeeding support to women, infants, and children.

The WIC acronym stands for women, infants, and children.

What Services Are Provided By WIC?

WIC offers the following services to its clients:

Health Foods

Nutrition Education
Breastfeeding Support
Referrals to outside agencies

We will explain each service in more depth in the following section.

Health Foods

The primary service that WIC offers is to help families purchase healthy foods. Emphasis on healthy foods.

Unlike SNAP benefits, WIC limits the items clients can purchase. WIC will only offer help to purchase healthy foods.

The reason being is they want women, infants, and children to establish good eating habits. Another reason is foods high in salt or sugar not only negatively affect an expecting mother during her pregnancy, but it affects the baby as well.

WIC clients are able to purchase foods via an EBT card similar to the one below.

WIC uploads money onto the card and families use this to purchase healthy foods like:

Fruits

Vegetables
Whole Grains
Low-Fat Milk

Yogurt
Cereal
Eggs

Juice
Peanut Butter
Beans

Nutrition Education

Educating clients about nutrition is another important service offered at WIC.

WIC clients receive individual nutrition counseling and nutrition classes to help them to improve their diet and overall health. Men who have family members in the WIC program are also encouraged to attend these classes.

WIC clients learn about the following topics:

Tips for teens who are pregnant
Infant problems like colic, constipation, and crying
Parenting skills

Why childhood immunizations are important
How to eat healthy during pregnancy for you and your baby
Healthy foods for kids who are picky eaters

Breastfeeding Support

WIC is a huge supporter of breastfeeding.

The program offers encouragement and instructions on how to breastfeed. In addition to this many of the WIC clinics provide free breast pumps.

WIC also offers the following tips on breastfeeding:

Why breastfeeding is best for your baby
What a father’s role in breastfeeding is
How women can breastfeed while still working

Tips for teens who breastfeed
How mothers can pump and then store milk

WIC clients learn all these things and much more.

Referral to Outside Agencies

WIC does a lot, but when there is a service they cannot provide they refer to outside agencies. Here are situations/agencies that WIC refers out to:

Early Childhood Intervention
Food Pantries

Job Banks
Drug and alcohol abuse programs
Medicaid

SNAP
TANF
Child health insurance

Childcare
Child support enforcement

What Are The Eligibility Requirements For WIC Houston?

To apply for WIC in Houston there are a number of different eligibility requirements for clients. Those requirements fall into the following categories:

Situational Requirements
Residential Requirements
Income Requirements

Nutrition Risk Requirements

Situational Requirements for WIC

WIC was created to provide assistance to women, infants and children. The following points further explain how each situation qualifies you for services:

Women

Pregnant – Women who are eligible throughout pregnancy and up to 6 weeks after birth

Postpartum – Women receive WIC services up to 6 months after the birth of the child
Breastfeeding – Breastfeeding mothers are eligible for WIC up until the child’s first birthday

Infants

Infants – They are eligible for WIC until the first birthday.

Children

Children – The can receive WIC benefits up until the age of 5 years old.

Note: Fathers, step-parents, guardians and foster parents can all potentially qualify for WIC services.

Residential Requirements for WIC

Another set of guidelines used to determine eligibility are residential requirements.

This means that you must live in the area of the WIC office that you are applying with.

If you live in Harris County you will have to apply at your local WIC office in Harris County, not Galveston, Fort Bend, or Montgomery County.

If you have recently moved to an area you are potentially eligible for WIC on day one. There is no specific amount of time that you must live in a certain area to receive WIC.

Income Requirements for WIC

Under the WIC income requirements, there are two ways to become eligible.

Fall below the Income Standard
Meet Automatic Income Eligibility

We will explain the difference next.

Income Standard

The Income Standard asks that your household make less than a specified amount of money to qualify for WIC Houston services. That amount is less than 185% of the Federal Poverty Income Level (FPL).

Math has NEVER been our strong suit so if you are interested in knowing where you fall on the Federal Poverty Income Level us the link below to access an FPL Calculator:

Federal Poverty Income Level Calculator

FPL Calculator

Texas WIC Income Guideline Table

The table below provides you with income limits that you must fall below to receive WIC in the state of Texas.

Family Size	Weekly Income	Bi-Weekly Income	Twice Monthly	Monthly	Annual Income
1	$423	$846	$916	$1,832	$21,978
2	$570	$1,140	$1,235	$2,470	$29,637
3	$781	$1,435	$1,554	$3,108	$37,296
4	$865	$1,730	$1,874	$3,747	$44,955
5	$1,012	$2,024	$2,193	$4,385	$52,614
6	$1,160	$2,319	$2,512	$5,023	$60,273
7	$1,307	$2,614	$2,832	$5,663	$67,951

Automatic Enrollment

A much easier way to tell if you qualify for WIC is if you receive any of the following services:

SNAP (food stamps)
Medicaid
TANF (welfare)

If you receive any of the services above you qualify for WIC services.

Nutrition Risk Requirements for WIC

If you are a “nutrition risk” you could qualify for WIC.

During the initial health and diet screening clients have their height and weight measured, plus give blood work.

These procedures, in addition to the initial interview, indicate whether you are a nutrition risk.

There are two types of nutrition risks:

Medically-based

Diet-based

Medically-Based Nutrition Risk

Examples of medically-based nutrition risks would be a history of poor pregnancy outcomes, being underweight and anemia.

Diet-Based Nutrition Risk

Poor eating habits can make you a nutrition risk.

Whether you are a medical or diet nutrition risk, WIC will help you. They are staffed by Counselor and Nutritionist who can help you with education and recommendations on improving your diet.

Is WIC Free?

Yes, whether you are taking an educational class or receiving formula all WIC services are FREE.

How To Apply For WIC In Houston

To apply for WIC in Houston you first need to schedule an appointment.

You have two options for scheduling an appointment:

Call your local WIC clinic
Visit your local WIC clinic

We’ll explain more on these options next.

Call your local WIC in Houston

If you wish to call a WIC Houston clinic, below are two numbers to help you find the closest location:

City of Houston WIC clinics – If you live within Houston city limits contact the Houston Health Department at 832.393.5427. The Houston Health Department manages the WIC clinics inside Houston city limits.

Texas WIC clinics – If you stay in a surrounding county to Houston or anywhere else inside the state call 800.942.3678 or 877.341.4491.

When you call either number simply request a WIC appointment and you will be given a date and time to visit a clinic and apply.

Visit your local WIC Houston Clinic

A walk-in is another way that you can schedule an appointment.

WIC clinics are typically very busy throughout the day although on rare occasions you can walk-in to a clinic and be assessed the same day. Again this is rare.

Although you can walk-in to a WIC clinic and schedule an appointment, you are better off calling to set up an appointment. With walk-ins, there is no guarantee that you will be assessed or scheduled an appointment, especially if the clinic is busy the day you go as a walk-in.

Where Are The Offices For WIC In Houston?

In this section, you will find a listing of WIC offices located in the Houston area.

Typically WIC offices are managed by local health authorities. The health authorities that managed the local WIC offices here can be found below:

City of Houston WIC Offices

Harris County Public Health WIC Offices

City of Houston WIC Offices

To schedule a WIC appointment at a City of Houston office you will need to call their appointment number at 832.393.5427.

Northeast WIC Office

Northeast WIC is located at 9720 Spaulding, Houston, TX 77016.