How FoodShare specialists in clinics are helping families access nutrition resources

This fall, colleagues from Children’s Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin attended the 2025 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference. There Connie Gundacker, MD and others from Children’s Wisconsin had the opportunity to present a poster abstract titled, Addressing Childhood Food Insecurity: An Integrated and Community Based Approach. It focused on two important strategies of the FoodCare Coalition – increasing access to FoodShare and engaging with community members.

In 2023, a new model was piloted at Children’s Wisconsin Midtown clinic with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. The idea was to test whether a FoodShare Outreach specialist in clinic would increase access to FoodShare and other food and nutrition resources. It began as a pilot and has grown into a way of working that has had several impacts for families and staff. It created connection and problem-solving support for families and staff to navigate FoodShare enrollment as well as services like Medicaid enrollment, summer market match programs and others.

FoodShare specialists have expertise in food-related resources and the ability to enroll families in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. They can also troubleshoot challenges families have with access to food-related resources.

We continue to build on this model and have been working in a second primary care clinic, continually figuring out how best to work together and across sectors to make sure that families have access to food and nutrition resources they desire.

For more information about the abstract, reach out to Program Leader, Geeta Wadhwani, MPH, RN, BSN.