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Women can share a host of experiences – marriage, parenting, work/life balance, service in the armed forces. But it’s the latter that brings its own set of challenges and accomplishments, and leaves some women veterans needing special services and/or wanting to close ranks among themselves. 

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) at the East St. Louis Center (ESLC) has formed Women Veterans of the St. Louis Area, a group that gives women veterans the opportunity to access more services and provides a time of bonding. The group started in March. 

“From my experiences, women veterans are underserved,” said Yasin Jackson, VUB program coordinator who served 12 years in the Army and retired as 1^st Lt. Promotable. “For instance, there are few shelters in the area for homeless women veterans. Women also have different counseling needs, and there are less services for them and their children. Services that are available are inaccessible to many Metro East women veterans.” 

 “I wanted to start the women’s group to meet some of their needs, and for us to be able to connect and help each other through our experiences, knowledge and networks,” continued Jackson, who holds a master’s in business administration and also serves as a VUB counselor. “There are different ways of communicating in the military. Being with another female who understands you is comforting.” 

The VUB has four other staff members, all of whom are veterans and can also counsel both men and women veterans: Jim Robbins, program director; Jeremy Bailey, program coordinator; Tahji Bradley, program specialist; and Amanda Depew, work study student. 

“Women veterans have made significant contributions to the safety and security of the United States throughout its history and in every conflict,” said Robbins. “Women veterans are an expanding group with unique experiences, but unfortunately underrepresented in traditional veterans’ groups and organizations. I’m pleased the we have this group to help meet the needs of women veterans in the Metro East. The goal of the group is to cultivate a network for women veterans to provide peer-to-peer counseling and camaraderie.” 

For more information, contact Women Veterans of the St. Louis Area Facebook page or Jackson at yasjack@siue.edu. 

Photo:
L-R: Part of the SIUE Veterans Upward Bound’s Women Veterans of the St. Louis Area are Senoria Brown PhD, Yasin Jackson and Amanda Depew.