MassHealth Wellness Retreat

Massachusetts bought my lunch that work week

$15 in WIC benefits for groceries

The Women Infants Children (WIC) program bought my soy milk, oatmeal, eggs, bread, juice and peanut butter that month. (My dad bought my bulk pasta, rice, tomato sauce and nuts - that was a mutual benefit moment, he loves Costco.) I also got $10 from WIC for produce. I lived near a pretty big (city big, not suburbs big) grocery store that carried the items that WIC approved. This was lucky, I learned. When I moved to another neighborhood there was never a non-dairy milk available, nor oatmeal. I will always take an excuse to buy cheese and a sugary cereal instead though….

When my partner’s income went from $50K to $60K I lost those benefits, but occasionally some benefits pop up for that first kid. If a kid is registered as entering the world in a household making less than $60K in Boston - they stay in the system as “free lunch”. So, when he entered the public school system at 4 years old he got breakfast and lunch for free. Sometimes these benefits wo…