Speakers

Carmen Vega currently serves as Executive Director of Lazarus House Ministries. She has worked at other positions within the organization for four years, including: Shelter Program Director and Transitional Housing Program Director.   

Before joining Lazarus House she spent over twenty years serving the Greater Lawrence community through a diverse range of entities and organizations including: The Essex County Sheriff’s Department, The City of Lawrence School Department, Family Services of the Merrimack Valley and faith based nonprofits.

Carmen is passionate about Lazarus House’s mission, which is “To honor God in our work by serving every person we encounter with dignity and respect. We offer community, food, shelter, clothing, and advocacy services with an open and non-judgmental heart.”

She was born and raised in the Hancock Housing Projects in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Her family, friends and neighbors all struggled with many issues one witnesses in a typical urban city; some of the same hardships that the families served by Lazarus House are working to overcome. It is through her lived experiences, that Carmen leads the organization to serve families and individuals struggling with food insecurity, poverty, and homelessness.

In her “free” time, Carmen serves as an Associate Pastor at MAJES Worship Center in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She enjoys weekend adventures with her family, which includes her husband Mike, her son Luis, and daughters Diandra and Mikeyla.

Credentials:

Carmen H. Vega, Med, LMHC

 

• Master of Education, Mental Health Counseling Mount Washington College
• LMHC BIO Education Cambridge College
• Bachelor of Arts, Psychology North Shore Community College
• Drug and Alcohol Counseling Certificate Languages
• Associate Pastor, MAJES Worship Center

Our speaker is Dave VanArsdale who retired in 2013 after 41 years in ministry that started in Framingham and concluded as Pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Sun City, AZ. We moved to the Edgewood Retirement Community in North Andover in 2016.  We are parents of 3 sons and 8 grandchildren. Dave is now serving as the Chair of the Council on Aging for North Andover.