Mission statement: Heluna Health enables population health programs to improve the overall wellbeing of our communities. Vision statement: Heluna Health strives to become the nation’s leader in providing program and support services for optimizing population health.

WIC, THE SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN, IS A USDA-FUNDED FOOD AND NUTRITION EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR PREGNANT, BREASTFEEDING, AND POSTPARTUM WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF FIVE WHO ARE LOWER INCOME (UP TO 185% OF POVERTY) AND AT NUTRITIONAL RISK. ESTABLISHED IN 1974, THE GOAL OF THE WIC PROGRAM IS TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF PARTICIPANTS DURING CRITICAL TIMES OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. CORE WIC SERVICES INCLUDE NUTRITION EDUCATION, BREASTFEEDING EDUCATION AND SUPPORT, REFERRALS TO COMMUNITY SERVICES AND NUTRITIOUS FOODS (I.E. LOWER FAT MILK, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, WHOLE GRAIN CEREALS, EGGS). APPROXIMATELY 20% OF THE INDIVIDUALS SERVED ARE WOMEN, 25% ARE INFANTS, AND THE REMAINING 55% ARE CHILDREN AGE ONE TO FIVE. PHFE WIC HAS BEEN PROVIDING HIGH-QUALITY WIC SERVICES IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY FOR ALMOST 50 YEARS, ORANGE COUNTY FOR 22 YEARS, AND SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FOR 13 YEARS. FORTY EIGHT WIC CENTERS ARE STRATEGICALLY LOCATED IN HIGH-DENSITY AREAS OF NEED THROUGHOUT THE THREE COUNTIES SERVING A CURRENT CASELOAD OF APPROXIMATELY 200,000 PARTICIPANTS EACH MONTH. PHFE WIC HAS APPROXIMATELY 600 EMPLOYEES, WHICH INCLUDE 200 NUTRITIONISTS, OTHER PROFESSIONALS SUCH AS LACTATION CONSULTANTS AND BREASTFEEDING PEER COUNSELORS, AND 300 PARAPROFESSIONALS PROVIDING CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE SERVICES TO ELIGIBLE FAMILIES. THE PHFE WIC PROGRAM IS THE LARGEST LOCAL AGENCY WIC PROGRAM IN THE COUNTRY SERVING APPROXIMATELY 4% OF THE NATION'S TOTAL AND 23% OF CALIFORNIA'S TOTAL WIC PARTICIPANTS. EIGHTY-FOUR PERCENT OF THE CLIENTS SERVED BY PHFE WIC ARE LATINO, 6% ARE AFRICAN-AMERICAN, 6% ARE ASIAN, 3% ARE CAUCASIAN AND 1% ARE NATIVE AMERICAN. PHFE WIC PROVIDES SERVICES AND WRITTEN INFORMATION IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, CHINESE, VIETNAMESE, KOREAN, ARABIC AND ARMENIAN.IN 2019-2020, WIC WILL BEGIN PROVIDING FOOD BENEFITS TO FAMILIES BY INTRODUCING THE CALIFORNIA WIC CARD. THIS IMPORTANT CHANGE IS EXPECTED TO SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVE THE WIC PARTICIPANT EXPERIENCE. FROM THE WIC PROGRAM'S INCEPTION IN 1974 THROUGH OCTOBER 2019, WIC FAMILIES HAVE USED PAPER CHECKS TO PURCHASE THEIR WIC FOODS. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THIS CHANGE FROM PAPER CHECKS TO AN ELECTRONIC BENEFIT (EBT) SYSTEM WILL DRASTICALLY IMPROVE THE WIC PARTICIPANT SHOPPING EXPERIENCE.