Valerie Carter was born and raised on Long Island, New York where she attended Adelphi University majoring in sociology and religious studies. She has been in Richmond since 1984 and has been blessed to serve in Virginia Baptist life since 1988 beginning as the Director of the Hillside Baptist Center, then to WMU of Virginia as the Associate of Christian Social Ministries, then to Bon Air Baptist Church as the Associate Pastor for Glocal Ministries and now as the Executive Director/Treasurer of WMU of Virginia.
In these years, Valerie completed the M.Div., M.S. and D. Min degrees while raising two children and serving in the local church in various capacities such as youth minister, women’s ministry leader and Sunday school teacher. Throughout these years, Valerie has remained committed to meeting basic human needs for the poor and the marginalized.
For the last ten years, Valerie has led a ministry in The Prostitution Zone in Richmond. The Streetwalking Ministry aims to reach women caught in prostitution with the good news that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that God has plans for an abundant life for them through Christ. Testimonies of the Streetwalking ministry will soon be published in a work entitled, “Grace in the Night: Divine Intersections in the Prostitution Zone.”