Cassaundra StJohn and Victoria Wegwert created the F7 Group.
“We started seeing that there’s all these benefits for the guys, very much like corporate America, but for female veterans ... not as much,” StJohn said. “So we started looking in our own back- yard, our own resources, our network — which is very extensive.”
“F7” stands for the seven tools the organzation provides: friends, family, freedom, foundation, function, focus, flexibility and fundamentals.
F7 Group will launch a national tour from downtown Dallas Aug. 14, when they will visit 32 cities before coming back to Texas.
Wegwert attributes much of the con- fusion of readjusting to the initial point when a woman is released. A form is described to each woman as she signs it; this, Wegwert said, is when resources for veterans are described. But the average woman is so wrapped up in getting released that the whirl- wind of initials doesn’t appear to be much more than words on paper.
“When you get done, it’s like, ‘where’s my network?’ Now is when I need the information, now is when I need the help and support and resources, and there aren’t any,” Wegwert said.
Wegwert, 43, grew up with a father who was a paratrooper in the U.S. Army and had grandfathers in the Army and U.S. Navy. StJohn, 44, has a father retired after 25 yrs in the Army and is a U.S. Air Force veteran herself.
Cassaundra StJohn and Victoria Wegwert created the F7 Group to help female veterans network with members of the business community and form vital connections.
Some women come to F7 in need of a good business connection for their entrepreneurship; others are trying to find a new situation, trying to find a new home for themselves and their children. StJohn said that female veterans are four times more likely to be homeless than other women.
Although Wegwert admits that help such as social services are not their expertise, the organization does connect women with those who do know the best way to help. Many women come to F7, however, just to acquire knowledge of their advantages.
“You’d be surprised about how many
female veterans don’t know about their benefits,” Wegwert said. “It’s like, ‘How do you navigate those waters? I have no idea. I had a grenade launcher, I don’t know how to sign a contract.’ The disparity between the two is really huge.”
Women of need come to F7 through various ways, many of them through social media, as it’s “a really safe place” for women to come to learn
about F7 before putting trust in the organization.
F7 Group is able to provide help with its nine-person staff, but sponsor- ships from companies in the area and around the nation provide the real boost.