As the federal government shutdown entered its first days in October 2025, uncertainty loomed for thousands of vulnerable families across the United States, particularly those in Washington state and West Virginia. Two stories—one unfolding in the halls of Congress and the other in the heart of rural Appalachia—illustrate the mounting challenges faced by low-income mothers and their babies as critical safety nets are threatened or, in some cases, creatively reinforced by community action.
In Washington state, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program, a lifeline for over 212,000 women and children under age five, faces a rapidly ticking clock. According to the Washington State Department of Health, the program has just about two weeks’ worth of funding left to continue serving families, but that cushion could shrink to a single week if demand increases. Nicole Flateboe, executive director of Nutrition First—the state’s WIC association—put it bluntly on October 1: “We will have babies being born to low-income women who will not have any breastfeeding support, and they will have no way to get infant formula if they’re not breastfeeding.”
WIC’s plight is one of the most immediate and concrete examples of how a federal government shutdown, which began at midnight on October 1-2 after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement, can ripple far beyond furloughed federal employees. Unlike entitlement programs such as food stamps, WIC is subject to annual appropriations, making it especially vulnerable when lawmakers reach an impasse. The White House has signaled that, for now, no new WIC applicants will be accepted, meaning that newborns and newly eligible mothers could be left without support at a critical time.
Nationally, the WIC program serves nearly 7 million Americans, providing access to healthy food, breastfeeding support, nutrition education, and health screenings. The program’s impact is profound: research cited by the Washington Department of Health shows that WIC helps limit low birth weights, reduce maternal mortality, and improve the growth and health of infants and children. “The services that WIC provides reduce infant deaths, improve the growth of infants and children, increase immunization rates, increase access to community supports, and help ensure early prenatal care for pregnant participants,” said Brittany Tybo, director of the Department of Health’s Office of Nutrition Services, in a press release. “All of these benefits are at risk for WIC families, and the risk increases the longer the shutdown continues.”
The shutdown’s timing—at the start of the federal fiscal year—could hardly be worse. States like Washington have little leftover funding and no new federal dollars on the way. The state’s Department of Health has advised families to keep using their benefits as usual, but has also warned that if the shutdown drags on past October 6, about 50 employees whose jobs are tied to federal funding may face layoffs or reduced hours. Most of these employees work in the division that manages WIC, raising concerns about confusion and delays for enrollees seeking help.
Nicole Flateboe voiced fears that the situation could become chaotic. “It’s a big mess,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of trust that the USDA is going to handle this real seamlessly.” The Trump administration’s earlier staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, she added, have already hampered the agency’s ability to respond quickly and effectively to crises like this.
While some federal programs can weather a shutdown for a time—food stamps distributed through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can continue for 30 days—WIC’s more limited contingency funds make it especially precarious. In a move to stave off disaster, Colorado lawmakers on October 1 approved millions in state funding to temporarily backfill WIC assistance, offering a potential model for other states scrambling to protect their most vulnerable residents.
Meanwhile, in Hico, West Virginia, a different kind of safety net was quietly being woven. On October 4, the Fayette Pregnancy Center celebrated the grand opening of its fourth satellite office at Sunday Road Baptist Church. Volunteer Twila Smith, who previously worked at a pregnancy center in Parsons, recognized a gap in services during a visit to Fayette County and decided to act. “We’re looking to help young families with baby needs, the economy being the way it is, and formula $22 a can,” Smith told WOAY. “It’s very important for the community to get involved because we are a nonprofit, and need donations.”
The new center, open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., provides a wide array of essentials for babies and young children—formula, diapers, clothes, car seats, even bathtubs and swings. Unlike WIC, the pregnancy center’s services are not income-based, welcoming mothers from a variety of backgrounds, including foster mothers and those without stable employment. “A lot of mothers who have children and maybe just a boyfriend, and they don’t work,” Smith explained. “And we have foster mothers come in and get things.”
To encourage positive parenting, the center uses a point system: parents can earn points by reading to their children, taking them to the park, or attending doctor and dentist appointments. These points can then be exchanged for much-needed supplies. “I enjoy helping people, and this is a very good program,” Smith said. “It’s all over the United States, and not income-based, so anyone can utilize it.”
For families already struggling to make ends meet, the center’s support is a lifeline—one that feels especially crucial as federal programs face uncertainty. With baby formula costing as much as $22 a can and inflation squeezing household budgets, the demand for such community-based services is only expected to grow.
The juxtaposition between Washington’s precarious WIC funding and Hico’s grassroots efforts underscores a broader reality: when government safety nets are frayed or threatened, communities often step in to fill the void. Yet, as the shutdown continues, the limits of local charity and state intervention will be tested. For now, families in Washington are being urged to use their WIC benefits while they last, and those in West Virginia are being welcomed into a new center where, at least for now, the shelves are stocked and the doors are open.
The coming weeks will reveal whether federal lawmakers can reach a compromise to restore critical funding, or whether more states and communities will be forced to improvise solutions to keep America’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens fed, healthy, and supported.
