Take a look inside the WIC Mobile, a health clinic on wheels

• By Sarah Nicell/LNP | LancasterOnline

Every Tuesday, Indira Bandari and Amie Silva trade their offices for a 5,700-pound van.

They work for Community Action Partnership, a Lancaster County nonprofit that, among the other services it provides, hosts clinics for the Pennsylvania Women, Infants and Children program.

The initiative provides nutrition education, breastfeeding support and food vouchers to pregnant women and parents and caregivers of children up to 5 years old. Nutritionists take appointments from physical offices in Lancaster city, Columbia Borough and Ephrata Borough.

But rural mothers and children need support, too. Busy families can’t always drive to locations across the county.

That’s why Community Action Partnership launched their WIC on Wheels program in June. On Tuesdays, a colorful 2024 Sprinter van becomes a clinic in the parking lot at Solanco Neighborhood Ministries in Quarryville, next to the playground at Huffnagle Park. The funding for the van came from a 2021 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant designated for state WIC programs. The grant specifically funded the WIC mobile unit.

Silva, who has worked at CAP for the last eight years, is now the WIC on Wheels site lead. She is the van’s only driver. Bandari, a nutritionist, has served CAP for 2 1/2 years but has more than a decade of medical experience in Pennsylvania and India.

Bandari has primarily worked in hospitals, most recently at Main Line Health in Chester County. Still, she said, working from the van — 469 cubic feet, about the size of a walk-in closet — is the best way she can give back.

“Every day, by the end of the day, I feel like I did something for the community,” Bandari said.

Here’s a look inside the WIC on Wheels unit, on the busy Tuesday morning of Aug. 19.

8 a.m.

Silva began her morning in Lancaster city by picking up the WIC Mobile from Community Action Partnership offices on South Queen Street, where the van lives off-duty. At 8 a.m., she pulled onto Oak Lane and parked behind Solanco Neighborhood Ministries, which hosts the van every Tuesday until 3:30 p.m.

Bandari, who commutes to Quarryville from Chester County, was already in the parking lot when Silva arrived. She introduced herself and watched Silva adjust her parking job. The van was too long for its spot.

It was a cool day for August, cloudy with a breeze. Silva said it’s better when it’s like this. It gets humid in the back of the van late in the afternoon, where the air conditioning circulates poorly.

“In the heat wave, we were dead,” Silva said.

The van is a statement piece. A pattern of produce and groceries speckle the white sides, along with a design of a child eating watermelon and parents holding a newborn. Writing on the back of the van shares information about WIC for curious drivers.

Silva rolled open the door and pulled down the steps for entry.

8:10

Silva flipped on the generator in the back of the van, along with the air conditioner and lights. The clinic whirred to life.

The front section of the clinic, the check-in area, hosts one seat for patients and another for Silva. Traffic cones are stacked underneath. Silva’s seat, tucked between a thin desk and a wall, gives her just enough room to welcome families, so long as she shifts her legs to the side.

Depending on the appointment, Silva verifies patient ID, talks through income requirements for the WIC program and takes hemoglobin tests — quick finger pricks to test iron levels.

Behind Silva, a sliding door gives way to the clinic area.

From a chair in the back corner, Bandari handles appointments, takes height and weight and renews WIC EBT cards, which allow families to purchase healthy foods from grocery stores throughout the state. WIC’s website lists 44 participating locations in Lancaster County, including two Giant Food Stores in Quarryville.

An examination table, which the staff hopes to replace with something smaller, takes up almost half the space. There is a sink, but no running water. The women keep their water bottles close. Solanco Neighborhood Ministries lets them use the bathroom and cafeteria when they need it.

Bandari propped up her laptops (Silva and Bandari both have two) on the cabinet counters. Then, she fanned out her pamphlets.

She has dozens of informational handouts: how to wean children off sippy cups, which foods are iron-rich, free diaper vouchers, free car seat installations, resources on food pantries, lead poisoning, mental health services, how to make an avocado puree. Bandari is equally enthusiastic about each one.

“This one is my favorite, again,” Bandari said about a pamphlet on pregnancy.

8:30

The first visitor of the day arrived early. A father of two, who declined to share his name for this story, arrived solo. He said he prefers the WIC offices since there’s more room for children, but he lives right up the street from the visiting van. He made the appointment to renew his benefits before his work day.

For renewals, Silva keeps it simple, efficient. She sent him back to Bandari, a few steps away, in less than five minutes.

“How are your kids doing?” Bandari began.

Bandari asked questions about his children’s health, about how they’ve been eating. She asked if they’ve been drinking whole milk and eating three times a day. She reminded him that his oldest, who is almost 5 years old, won’t be eligible for the program soon.

“You doing this in the winter, too?” the father asked. The van hasn’t made it through the summer quite yet, but Bandari nodded.

“We are getting better,” she said.

9:20

“She is so brave,” Silva said. She wrapped up a finger prick on a toddler with blonde pigtails and a yellow dress. Silva gave her stickers of animals made of fruits and vegetables.

A mother in cowboy boots, who declined to share her name, said this was her first time on the van. She lives in Peach Bottom, so coming to Quarryville is more convenient. Plus, she can park right next to the WIC Mobile and keep an eye on her older children waiting in the car.

“I actually like it better because I can leave the kids right there,” she said.

Bandari discussed the foods the toddler likes to eat (cheese, yogurt, eggs and sausage) and the mother’s plan to slow breastfeeding. They chatted about the child’s hygiene habits (she loves to brush her teeth) and her upcoming birthday.

By 9:45 a.m., the mother and daughter were headed back to their van, steps away.

9:45

Cheyenne Greene, 26, arrived at the WIC Mobile.

“This one’s a first,” Greene said of her appointment. Solanco Neighborhood Ministries is about half an hour closer to Greene, who lives in Little Britain Township, than any of the WIC offices. Normally, she said, her appointments consist of walking up two flights of steps with a 7-month-old baby.

Bandari talked to Greene about reducing juice intake, her son’s meal schedule, trying homemade foods and her baby’s journey toward crawling.

“He’s trying. He can roll,” Greene said. “He’s creeping, that’s what he’s doing.”

And, as usual, Bandari offered Greene handouts, this time on choking prevention and purees.

9:56

As Nicole Miller of Peach Bottom carried a 9-month-old in a baby carrier to the WIC Mobile, her toddler, Jonathan, made a run for it. The playground next door was too enticing.

Once Miller retrieved her son, the family was checked in within minutes. Jonathan got a finger prick. Miller, the baby carrier and Jonathan squeezed through the sliding door.

Jonathan’s shoes, red and black, lit up when he stomped.

“No wonder you want to run all the time,” Bandari said.

She took his height and weight. She asked how much television Jonathan watches and whether he still uses sippy cups (Miller said he’s too rambunctious for a cup with no lid). While Bandari asked questions, Silva sanitized the front area.

By 10:30 a.m., Jonathan was sprinting back to the playground, Miller following after him. He stayed at the top of the slide, seeming hesitant to come down in case his mother carried him away.

“He is fast,” Silva said.

On a typical day, Silva and Bandari take up to 15 families back to back. In their first 2 1/2 hours on this Tuesday, they took five appointments. There wasn’t much time, or room, to breathe. But the pair kept moving.

“These things make a difference,” Bandari said.

When and where to find the WIC Mobile

The WIC Mobile currently takes appointments (no walk-ins) at Solanco Neighborhood Ministries in Quarryville Borough every Tuesday. The van stays in the parking lot between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., though Silva and Bandari spend some of that time setting up, cleaning and packing up.

The program, though, has started to branch out beyond Quarryville to hit more rural areas across the county. The van started to take appointments in Paradise in August and will soon spend time in Denver Borough. WIC enrollees can schedule an appointment by calling 717-509-3686.

WIC on Wheels in Paradise

Where: Factory Ministries, 3293 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise.

When: Every Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

WIC on Wheels in Denver

Where: REAL Life Community Services, 240 Main Street, Denver.

When: Every other Monday starting in October.

WIC on Wheels in Quarryville

Where: Solanco Neighborhood Ministries, 14 S. Church St., Quarryville.

When: Every Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Stacey Broderick, the partnership’s health and nutrition outreach coordinator, said the nonprofit is looking to expand the program to New Holland and is currently in talks with Union Community Care about setting up a parking location there.

The WIC program serves more than 185,000 people in Pennsylvania, as of May 2025. To learn more about the WIC program in Lancaster County and Community Action Partnership’s WIC on Wheels program, visit lanc.news/WICOnWheels.

The return of WIC on Wheels to Lancaster County

Community Action Partnership in Lancaster County started its first WIC on Wheels program in the fall of 2016, but it ended at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amie Silva, the current WIC on Wheels site lead in Lancaster County, said the former van was older but bigger. It had a bathroom on board. Stacey Broderick, the partnership’s health and nutrition outreach coordinator, said the nonprofit sold the first WIC Mobile, a 2015 model, in an auction in December.

But with the help of a general infrastructure grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated for state WIC agencies, Community Action Partnership was able to update their ride. The new van, a 2024 Mobile Health Clinic Sprinter, arrived in Lancaster County in January.