Meet Our
Co-Founders
Aaron has an interdisciplinary degree with concentrations in education, psychology, and business. He worked at a Children's Home as a Program Director in Indiana. After moving, he began working with disabled adults as a program coordinator placing them in community vocational settings. He then went on to pursue his Masters in Kinesiology and worked as a collegiate strength and conditioning coach for 10 years. Due to changes at home, Aaron stepped away from strength and conditioning and started his renovation and home design business, Axe & Hammer. Now, as the Executive Director of HHD, he is using all of these jobs and experiences daily between renovating our Haven Home, working with community and government services, and building relationships.
Kristen has her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and has worked at Mayo Clinic in oncology and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. She earned her Masters in Science as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2007. When they moved to Michigan, she worked at the University of Michigan's Cancer Center. In 2014, her job took an unexpected turn when she left clinical practice and worked as a clinical nurse educator for a pharmaceutical company. After different jobs within the company, she is now working as a director for sales strategy, communications, and innovation. She loves her job now: all day everyday she takes complex ideas and figures out how to make them come to life and create communications about them. Not only has she found a passion, the experience has been so helpful as she and Aaron launched Haven Homes of Detroit. She continued to volunteer as a Nurse Practitioner until COVID at a Detroit clinic for uninsured women.
The Beginnings of Haven Homes of Detroit
Haven Homes as a Dream
In 2015, Kristen was involved with Love Runs. Love Runs is a running group which supports local non-profits in Michigan committed to serving people caught in human trafficking. There was a sense in her heart that there would be more for her to do with this cause.
One morning, after praying for a sense for what Aaron and she were supposed to do, she had a vision of the two of them taking care of people on the streets of Detroit. She wasn’t sure what it would look like then, but it was clear that they were being shaped, and she would know when the time was right.
Aaron Catches the Vision
In 2020, Aaron had a moment when he saw the same vision Kristen had 5 years earlier. He was passing out food and hygiene products with a local non-profit when a woman who had left trafficking a month previously was back at their usual spot. The spot serves as a home to people in human trafficking, but it's really a motel that rents by the week. Aaron remembered when this woman had left, she had said she really wanted to stay clean this time. She didn't have anywhere she was comfortable going after she left rehab, and she ended up staying with a family member who was using drugs. It wasn't long before the woman started using again herself. Now she was back with her pimp who was trafficking her for access to drugs.
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And Aaron wondered - what if she had chosen a different place to go when she left rehab? A place that could support her efforts to stay clean. A place that was a real home, a supportive environment while she found a job and a new support system.
Our Core Values
We believe in the dignity of all people
This includes and supports how we talk about and treat residents at Haven Homes of Detroit, our team members, our community partners, and supporters
Our program is created with survivors
Survivors and residents are the ones who know what they need to heal. Our program and staff humbly walk along side residents on their journey with empathy
We act with integrity
We are honest and transparent as an organization with our finances, marketing, and team culture. We are thoughtful to meet survivors where they are while respecting their autonomy
We leverage other organizations as partners
We utilize and respect existing Detroit-based organizations that provide services for survivors that will continue to be available to residents after leaving our homes
Board of Directors
Lori Spiker
President
Tameka Ward
Treasurer
Kristen Detweiler Short
Secretary
Patricia Wells
Member
Sean Weakley
Member
Tameka is an accountant with over 20 years’ experience in various industries including non-profit, internal audit, property management, public accounting, automotive financial services, banking, and manufacturing. She currently serves as the Financial Controller for the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, which is a Metro Detroit non-profit that operates homeless shelters, drug treatment facilities, permanent housing facilities, and food banks in the area. Tameka starting working in the Non-Proft world as her desire to have her professional work make a positive mark on the community grew. In addition to her work, Tameka enjoys giving back to the community. She has sat on several non-profit boards including the Avengers Youth Mentoring Organization, NABA, Inc in which she currently serves as the Detroit Chapter Treasurer. During her spare time Tameka enjoys travelling, spending time with family and friends and playing trivia. She is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Patricia is a Family Nurse Practitioner and self-proclaimed philanthropist. She has worked with several nonprofits that support health, nurse practitioners, and community, including the Bagley Community Council and Haven Homes of Detroit. Currently, she serves on the board of directors for both organizations to help improve neighborhoods and restore women's dignity. When she's not busy helping others, Patricia enjoys escaping with a good book, chemical free gardening, and running.
Kristen is Family Nurse Practitioner by training and currently works in Sales Strategy and Innovations for an international oncology pharmaceuticals company. Prior to moving into the Oncology Pharmaceutical Industry, Kristen has always worked with oncology patients as a nurse on a bone marrow transplant unit, the pediatric intensive care unit, and as a Nurse Practitioner taking care of patients with Multiple Myeloma Patients. In 2014, she learned about a running ministry at her church, Love Runs, and began running marathons and learning about Human Trafficking in the metro-Detroit area. When she’s not working at her day job or on Haven Homes of Detroit, she loves spending time with her family including her 3 children. Her time is spent doing a lot of activities with her children, trying to travel to all 50 states, and Bee Keeping with her daughter.
Lori works in Purchasing and Supply Chain at a Tier One automotive company. Her job has given her extensive experience working cross functionally with multiple stakeholders as well as managing a supply base where relationship and interpersonal skills are critical for success. She first learned about human trafficking in 2014 through a running ministry at her church that serves the Metro-Detroit area which led to a passion to raise awareness for anti-trafficking efforts in the Detroit area. She currently serves on a street outreach team with a local non-profit organization (All Worthy of Love) which meets basic needs of men and women enslaved by street- prostitution. Over the past five years she has seen firsthand the horrific implications that the lack of stable housing can have in a woman’s life and the unfortunate situations that many women are forced in to as a result. Outside of work and serving, she is married and has 2 teenage boys that keep her busy with sports and activities. She enjoys reading, walking with her dogs.
Sean is an experienced Retail Director at Home Depot who has received his B.Ed from Central Michigan and Executive Business Management Certificate from Vanderbilt University. He has worked at Home Depot for 16 years, starting as an overnight freight associate in 2007 and taking different roles in the company until now, where he is the District Manager for eleven stores from West Detroit to Lansing. Sean is married with 3 kids, and him and his wife enjoy being outdoors and spending time together as a family. He’s involved with a lot of youth sports as a spectator or coach, and loves being involved in his family’s hobbies and interests.
Leadership
Aaron Short
Executive Director
Aaron is the owner and General Contractor for his business, Axe and Hammer Home Designs and Remodeling. He has been flipping homes in the metro-Detroit area for 3 years and loves the satisfaction of seeing the improvements he can make to a house to provide a home for a family. Prior to this job, he has always worked in the human services field with children, disabled adults, and also a strength and conditioning coach. When he’s not working, he enjoys time with his family including his wife, 3 kids, and 1 dog. He spends a lot of time participating and supporting his kids in different activities and is loves finding new places to eat and traveling.
Advisory Board
Ryan Nguyen Voyles
Community Outreach
Dakota Leonard
Community Outreach
Ryan currently works in vehicle systems engineering utilizing the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering she achieved from the University of Michigan. She has held various roles within the automotive industry, from supplier to OEM, gaining experience with project management, strategic planning, and process improvement. She hopes to use her critical thinking and problem-solving skills to help enable survivors to reach their potential and see their true value through the support of Haven Homes. In her spare time, Ryan enjoys playing competitive volleyball, golfing with her husband, trying new recipes, and exploring on hiking trips in the mountains
Dakota is the Director of Client Relationships at PKIG since 2016, bringing with her nearly a decade of experience from her successful tenure at a State Farm agency. She has earned a reputation for her exceptional customer service, unmatched problem-solving abilities, and adept communication skills. Dakota’s genuine and compassionate approach to clients allows her to connect with each person on a personal level, providing tailored solutions that exceed expectations. Beyond her professional achievements, Dakota cherishes her time spent with her large extended family. Annual family trips and celebratory gatherings are cherished moments that keep her grounded and motivated.
Meet Our Lead Staff
Beth graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with a bachelor in Intercultural Studies and Recreation Management. During her time at collage she traveled all over the world and spent time living with the marginalized and working to better their conditions. Beth spent time in India working with the women in what they call "the red light district". This work really fueled her passion to continue this work wherever she lives. Over the past 7 years, Beth has served on a street team with a local non-profit organization (All Worthy of Love) which reaches out to both men and women enslaved by street-prostitution. While serving with All Worthy of Love, Beth recognized a huge need for safe housing for women coming out of a rehab/detox program. Many times Beth has helped a woman get into a rehab program, but once the woman had finished the program she had no safe place to return to or a positive support system to help keep her off the street. Outside of work, Beth and her husband are foster parents. They have been foster parents for five years. Beth and her family love to be outdoors, camping and hiking. Apart from her family, Beth loves to grow vegetables and flowers.
Alice Johnson serves as a Case Manager and Victim Advocate for trafficking survivors with a Detroit-based organization and the 36th District Court. Alice is a survivor of child abduction, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation. She has 18 years of recovery, and is a graduate from the House of Metamorphosis, a 2 year behavioral modification program. After graduatation, she began working as a recovery coach and House Manager for a women's residential recovery program for drug treatment. She also became a Certified Nurse’s Assistant 2008- 2015 and managed end-of-life care and direct care for the critically ill. Alice Johnson is the Author of two books, Out of The Darkness (A Survivor's Story). Who Am I Now? (workshop) series, focuses on self-identification, healing, and redirection, written specifically for survivors of all ages. She is a speaker and consultant on human trafficking. She is the Founder of Sister Survivors and The GateWay survivor national connection. She is on several task force and advisory boards. She is a fellow of the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy Office of Trafficking in Person.
Emily received her MSW from Wayne State in 2018 and has been studying human trafficking and working with survivors and at-risk women since her practicum for her undergraduate degree. She has worked as a Youth Specialist at Common Ground and more recently as a Program Coordinator for Michigan Abolitionist Project/Vista Maria over the last 4 years. Emily's hobbies include caring for and adding to her succulent collection, listening to music and attending concerts with her friends, and traveling to new places to explore different cultures and food.