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Arlene Gonzalez was looking for a fresh start after relocating to Kenmore four years ago from Orlando with her three young children, Arianna, who was 5; Jacob, 3, and Joseph who was 3 months old. After learning of Catholic Charities from her sister and brother-in-law, Arlene sought help through the WIC program in Kenmore.
“The staff at the WIC program helped me out a lot,” said Arlene. “I was breastfeeding my baby, Joseph, at the time and they found that his iron was low. So they suggested foods that I could include to improve his iron level.”
The staff also showed Arlene a scale of how her children were growing and gave her advice on food, including the appropriate proportions for children and what kinds of food to be introducing at what time. The WIC program was able to link Arlene and her family with medical insurance, even filling out all of the paperwork, which made the process so convenient for the busy mom.
Arlene now works for the Catholic Charities WIC program, assisting other mothers and their children in all the ways she was helped by the agency. She is learning as much as she can and has been given the chance to train as a lactation consultant, helping moms in another way she was helped.
“Thanks to this opportunity my family and I are doing great, compared to how life was before I came to Catholic Charities,” said Arlene. “My children are in good schools where we live in Kenmore and they have been involved in all kinds of activities, like swimming, baseball, gymnastics, guitar lessons and soccer is next!”
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