Lacey was born on July 11, 1948, in
San Francisco, California. After graduating from
Mercy High School in
Burlingame in 1966, she went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) from Russell College in Burlingame. In 1966, Lacey joined the
Sisters of Mercy and became a high school math and theology teacher. In 1979, Lacey volunteered at
San Francisco International Airport, helping refugees from Southeast Asia make their connecting flights to the communities in America where they were being resettled. This in motion a career change for Lacey and thrust her into international refugee work, initially in the
Lao-Thai border camps, and later in Africa. In 1984, Lacey obtained a master's degree in social work (M.S.W.) from the
University of California, Berkeley. While a graduate student there, she wrote a paper discussing the shifts in U.S. refugee policies since
World War II; in 1987 it was published as Chapter 1 in
People in Upheaval. Lacey also conducted a national study of AmerAsian refugee youth, "In Our Fathers’ Land", that was published by the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1986 and distributed to refugee resettlement sites nationwide. In 1985, she became Director of Refugee Services for
Catholic Charities in
San Jose, California. Catholic Charities provides refugee resettlement services, employment placement for newcomers, foster care for refugee minors, and legal assistance to immigrants. During her tenure, Catholic Charities expanded its immigration programs to include services for language and financial literacy,
naturalization,
family visa petitions, political asylum, deportation defense, and help to those who can not afford private legal counsel. Her office was involved in the
1986 amnesty program and provided education and public awareness regarding
Proposition 187. She has also served as a member of the board of directors for Mercy Housing California and for Mercy Hospital, Bakersfield. Lacey has spent time in war-ravaged places, including the Lao-Thai border, Sudanese and Somali camps in Kenya, and with internally displaced persons in the
Eastern Equatoria region of
Sudan. She has also worked with the
Lost Boys of Sudan, helping them to resettle in the United States. After 21 years of working for Catholic Charities, Lacey started
Mercy Beyond Borders in 2008; its mission is to partner with displaced women and children overseas in ways that help them move up from extreme poverty. Lacey presents to groups and schools throughout the U.S. on refugee and migration issues. In 2009 Ave Maria Press published her memoir
This Flowing Toward Me: A Story of God Arriving in Strangers. In 2011, Lacey received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from
Saint Joseph's College of Maine. In 2017 she was the recipient of the Opus Prize from
Regis University in
Denver, Colorado, which carries with it a $1 million stipend for her work. ==Works==