STAFF
Rev. Bonnie J. Gatchell, Executive Director & Co-Founder
Rev. Bonnie J. Gatchell is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. In 2010 she co-founded Route One to serve women sexually exploited in strip clubs. She desires equality for each person and seeks to remove blindspots around women, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and sexuality. Given Bonnie’s background, she seeks to equip church leadership, staff, and volunteers to meet the needs of women who have suffered sexual or physical abuse no matter their age, race, or sexual orientation. Before coming to Route One Bonnie worked as the Family Advocate for homeless women with children at The Salvation Army. She holds a Masters of Divinity and Women in Church History, ThM from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and The Boston Theological Institutes that include Harvard and BU. She also has a Trauma Narrative Response Certificate from the Allender Center of the Seattle School of Psychology and Theology.
Debbie Caraballo, Director of Outreach
Starting with Roue One in May of 2024, Debbie came on board excited to reach exploited women who are typically overlooked and scorned. Having grown up in a very loving Christian home, Debbie has always had a heart for helping. In her time away from Route One, she is the volunteer worship leader at her church, as well as the Sunday School Superintendent, the Sunday School teacher for 1st and 2nd graders, and a Trustee; she works with a team of volunteers who feed, neuters and spays, and cares for homeless and feral cats in her city of Springfield, MA. Currently, Debbie has one cat and one dog, but in the past, she has had rabbits, degus, guinea pigs, chinchillas, and chickens! She has also rehabbed and released a few cottontail rabbits and numerous squirrels. “The righteous care for the needs of their animals.” Proverbs 12:10a
Shea Pugh, Site Coordinator – Worcester
In addition to her work at Route One, Shea teaches Special Education and Nutritional classes within the Worcester Public Schools. She appreciates the opportunity to work with vulnerable women seeking services to overcome challenging circumstances. Prior to joining the RouteOne staff, she served as a volunteer on the Worcester Team. She shared that working with RouteOne has been some of the best, most challenging, and most life-giving work of her life. Shea holds a Master of Education.
Becca David, Site Coordinator – Springfield
After witnessing severe oppression on multiple international mission trips, I feel compelled to address the oppression of women and young girls that takes place right here in my backyard! My passion to serve exploited women in the sex industry is inspired by Isaiah 61:3 where the Lord promises to give us a crown of beauty for our ashes. My prayer is to see captives released and to comfort those who are brokenhearted. We all have a commission to serve the kingdom of God, and the Lord has used my experience building women up as a hairdresser in my community to serve and love women who have only experienced the beauty industry in terms of exploiting their beauty. I believe that there is redemptive power through Christ from the opportunities I have had facilitating multigenerational women’s small groups in my local church. In my downtime, I enjoy traveling, hiking, and enjoying local coffee shops!
Julia Gonzalez, Office Administrator
Julia joined Route One in September 2024. Born in Venezuela, now expanding her routes in Boston, MA. While lived overseas for five years along with her family, they served in different ministries helping homeless people and women who were facing difficult situations. In Colombia, Julia served as a deaconess specifically helping vulnerable women within her church community. It is a huge privilege for her to be part of Route One and the purpose they have. In her free time, Julia loves dancing, walking in nature, cooking, and spending time with her loved ones.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Abram Kielsmeier-Jones (Abram K-J, for short) desires full freedom and liberation for every sexually exploited woman. He has a deep heart for the vulnerable and oppressed; he is honored to advocate for the freedom and well-being of sexually exploited women so that they may “have life to the full.” Abram is husband to Sarah and father of three wonderful school-aged children and a rescue lab-hound mix. Abram pastors a diverse Christian church in the heart of Boston. He loves to run, box (heavy bag only! not people), play guitar, write music, and drink coffee. He writes at www.abramkj.com.
Elizabeth Klein developed a passionate concern for the sexually abused and exploited through the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, as well as watching Rev. Bonnie Gatchell’s TEDx Talk about Route One. Additionally, Elizabeth graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2017 with a master’s degree in spiritual formation, and is the associate principal flute of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Fiona Parker was born in Boston, grew up in Ireland, and returned to the States for high school and college. During a presentation at a church event several years ago, she was moved by a trafficked survivor sharing her story and was struck by how pervasive exploitation is – not only in the US, but also in her own community. She began volunteering at Amirah (a local organization providing refuge to survivors) and is looking forward to working collaboratively with her fellow board members at Route 1 to help effect positive change in the lives of women seeking freedom from exploitation.
An IT auditor by trade, in her free time, Fiona enjoys crafts, Zumba, and spending time with her husband and baby son.
Roger Rumer has been passionate about advocating for exploited women after learning about sex trafficking in 2011. Roger and his wife Betsy, who retired in 2024 after 16 years as a pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, live in the Pittsburgh area; have two grown daughters and two grand-children. Roger retired in 2017 after a career in high-performance materials, loves to learn and teach about growing in God’s love, and playing the guitar, especially in worship. Roger has served on the board of Freedom Firm, which fights sex trafficking in India, since 2011.
If you are interested in joining an outreach team, or developing a new outreach team in your area, for support and training contact us at info@lovedbyrouteone.org