After 39 years at the Daviess County Health Department, Sherri Carder is planning to retire. Through the years, she has been proud to be known as “The WIC Lady.” Sherri says, “It has been very rewarding working with the children of the community through the years, watching them grow up. I have really enjoyed serving our community through Public Health.”
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“As I get ready to retire March 31, I have to stop and say ‘WOW, what a journey it has been!‘ I want to say THANKS to all the wonderful people that have crossed my path during my years at the health department. We have a wonderful team at the Health Department. They are ready and willing to bring you the best in Public Health. I will miss everyone, but it is time to say farewell and it’s time for a new journey with family and friends!”
Sherri Carder began her career at the Daviess County Health Department in September 1981, as a WIC (Woman, Infant and Children) clerk in a small room in the courthouse with Mary Wheeler, R.N. and administrator at DCHD, who saw the need for Public Health and made it happen for Daviess County by working hard to get the vote passed that established a health department.
Dolores Gatton taught Sherri the many hats she would wear in the small office. As the WIC program grew Sherri became the coordinator. Through the years she saw many changes in the WIC program. In the beginning, she wrote the WIC food vouchers by hand and there weren’t any computers in the office. Now, E-WIC cards are issued with a card reader and several computers.
DCHD used to host satellite clinics in Pattonsburg and Jamesport. For four years Sherri served as WIC Coordinator for both Daviess and Caldwell Counties, traveling as far as Braymer for clinics. Sherri said, “We’ve had WIC clinics outside in the sunshine and had to relocate clinics during the flood of ‘93. One thing that has never changed is the compassion and caring our WIC Teams have always provided for our clients.”
Over the years she was fortunate to represent District 2 at the National WIC Conference in Washington D.C. She was a member of the 1st Missouri State W.A.M.I Board for WIC, served on the state’s 25th WIC anniversary planning committee, and on WIC conference panels. Those experiences gave her the opportunity to meet people with the same desire, to improve WIC and make it a better program for pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants, and children across Missouri.
Sherri has also enjoyed working with the immunization program, keeping children and adults up to date on their vaccines and educated about the benefits. She firmly believes in the program slogan “Bee WISE Immunize!” She says, “Public Health is a valuable resource for our community.”
An example of the resources the public might not be aware of is the preparation and training of the Health Department for many years for an event such as the current pandemic. Sherri stated “At first, we thought the pandemic was H1N1 when it first started, but NO, with 2020 came something that we hadn’t seen before in our lifetime, ‘The COVID-19 Pandemic.’ I am proud to have been a part of our Health Department Team, educating, making contacts, and immunizing our community against COVID-19 the past year. The teamwork has been exceptional, as we worked long hours and weekends!”
Helping people find the right resource for their needs is also important to Sherri, whether it is getting a birth certificate or finding a resource or a program to help someone get the assistance they might need. Networking with agencies, organizations, schools and individuals throughout our area is a great tool in Public Health.
She says “Working at the Daviess County Health Department through the decades has truly been an amazing opportunity in my life. I have enjoyed being part of the Daviess County Health Department staff and having the support of the board as we promote public health in our community. Working with the people of the community, networking with other agencies and organizations has really been a great experience.”
DCHD has changed locations two times since those courthouse days, and experienced many changes: adding a breastfeeding peer counselor, an environmental public health specialist, providing school nurses, and doing lab draws, just to name a few.
Sherri has lived in Gallatin most of her life. She graduated from Gallatin High School. She has been married to Carl for 44 years and they have two daughters, Brandi (Lance) Moritz, and Brook (Justin) Kreatz, but her pride and joy are her grandchildren, Chloe, Piper, Carder, Owen and Parker. She can’t wait to spend more time with them. Her parents are Charlene and the late Joe Caraway.
Due to gathering restrictions and in the spirit of maintaining a safe and healthy community the Health Department is unable to have a reception. A card shower in honor of Sherri’s retirement is planned. Please send cards to: Sherri Carder, Daviess County Health Department, 609A South Main, Gallatin, MO 64640.