Well Child Center

During the past 12 months, Well Child Center has completely recommitted to our mission and the community. We also have reengaged with partners and families. It has been our honor to do this—because it matters and we’re already seeing the huge impact of our commitment!

The following are highlights of accomplishments over the past year:

• Celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Well Child Center!
• Expanded our WIC program to include over 6,100 clients.
• Reenergized our WIC program staff through the efforts of a new management team and a highly qualified and experienced WIC staff including registered dietitians, nutritionists, and frontline staff representative of the community.
• Reached over 80% of our assigned WIC caseload capacity—the highest percentage for the WIC program at Well Child Center in its history!
• Expanded our pediatric dental clinic to include over 4,100 patient visits in 2022-2023, to date.
• Expanded our pediatric dental clinic hours to include 1 evening per week and 2 Saturdays a month.
• Reenergized our dental clinic team through team building, education on “teach back” strategies and cultural competency for oral health professions, respectively, and more!
• Hired two Community Dental Health Coordinators to serve as the face of the dental clinic in the community and as a liaison between families to the clinic.
• Implemented a school-based dental clinic program through which over 60 children and adolescents have been seen in the last 3 months.
• Opened an emergency pantry, Food for Families, serving the most vulnerable in the community in partnership with Food for Greater Elgin. Over 2,000 neighbors have shopped with us, to date.
• Completed numerous building improvement projects at our main site on Wing Street.
• Hosted numerous college- and high school-level interns to inspire the future dental/oral health, public health, and nutrition sciences workforce.

We could not have accomplished all that we have without the support and leadership of our board of directors. We also acknowledge that our work could not be achieved without the generous support of donors, partners, and individual community members who recognize the value of the services our organization provides.

While our 50^th anniversary marked a milestone for Well Child Center, we know there is a lot more work to be done. We are confident that the future is bright for Well Child Center and that we will continue to  thrive.

With sincere gratitude,

Michelle Esquivel, MPH, Executive Director