Two Catholics with ties to the Pasadena area will be honored next month by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus for bringing their spiritual values into their lives of service.

Psychologist Marie Kanne Poulsen, Ph.D., and lawyer John Alcorn will receive the Faith in Action and Holy Child Spirit Awards during a March 24 awards dinner at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

"Our faith shouldn't be something that is separate from us or something that we just think about once we come home from work or school," said Sister Helen McDonald, leader of the American Province of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus. "Our faith is something that infuses every action we make. That is why we are thrilled to recognize John and Marie. They both embody the Holy Child spirit and motto of 'Actions Not Words' in all they do."

Poulsen, who attends St. Andrew in Pasadena and Holy Family in South Pasadena, has dedicated her career to helping infants, young children and their families thrive in spite of medical, developmental and environmental challenges. An advocate for women and children, Poulsen has worked especially hard to address the challenges of babies born to drug-addicted mothers, while helping the mothers deal with their addiction.

During the 1980s, millions of children born to women who were addicted to crack cocaine and other drugs had sensitive, disorganized nervous systems - often crying when sung to, refusing to suckle, and even being unable to cuddle. Realizing that these babies often were taken into foster care, Poulsen developed a "Baby and Me" program to support mothers and infants who were separated at birth. The goal of the program was to ensure that mothers were able to bond with their babies so that they would not be reunified later as strangers.

"The heroines in my life are the mothers who conquer the insatiable need for crack in order to care for their babies and give them a better life than they had," said Poulsen. "To overcome their drug addictions meant that these women had to give up all their friends who were using crack and go it alone. It has been 20 years since the crack epidemic hit its peak. Crack has diminished, but methamphetamine abuse is rampant. And hundreds of grandmothers are raising little ones. So the work goes on."

"Our mission is to help others believe that God lives and acts in them and in our world," noted Sister McDonald. "Simply by the way she lives her life and by the way she cares for those with whom she works, Marie embodies this same commitment to the Holy Child mission and spirit."

Poulsen is currently chief psychologist of the University of Southern California's Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and a professor of Pediatrics at the USC Keck School of Medicine. She also serves on the California Early Intervention Coordinating Council and the Child Development Policy Advisory Committee, and champions policies related to the mental health of infants, young children and families.

Poulsen's three children and three grandchildren attended Mayfield Junior School, with the girls attending Mayfield Senior School. Both schools, located in Pasadena, were founded by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus.

"My husband and I raised our family with the Holy Child philosophical commitment to foster the spiritual, intellectual, and emotional gifts of each of our children, so that they in turn would make meaningful contributions as parents and members of the community," said Poulsen. "As a mother, I have been blessed with the support that allowed me to reflect on the significance of such a role and to support the development and spiritual well-being of our children. It is within this context that I chose how I would endeavor to live the Holy Child philosophy of trying to 'reach beyond self and render service to others."

John Alcorn, who attends St. John Neumann Church in Irvine, has long operated a successful law practice, part of that time in Pasadena and currently in Irvine. In 2007, he took a one-year sabbatical to travel to Ghana, and give a year of unpaid service at the Tamale Institute of Cross Cultural Studies (TICCS), a teaching and research center of the Catholic Church that offers courses in language-learning, culture-learning, and learning for appropriate ministry and development.

His inspiration, said Alcorn, was learning that Divine Word Father John Kirby, who had founded and run the Institute since its beginnings, had skin cancer and may not be able to continue administering it. With Alcorn's help, that never happened, as he took on the day-to-day functions at TICCS, and developed an administration manual to ensure that those who came after him had a clear, administrative guide for how the center operated.

"God has blessed me with so much in my life that I knew it was time to do something in return," said Alcorn, who had been taught by the Sisters of the Holy Child at St. Anastasia School in Waukegan, Ill., and credits them with shaping his faith. "The Sisters had a profound impact on my life: spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally. They imparted in me a deep respect for the mystery of both God's being and His love for us."

The mission of Alcorn's law practice, the Law Offices of John R. Alcorn, is to help people solve U.S. immigration problems. He provides pro bono immigrant legalization services for priests of the Society of the Divine Word order and personally pays the legal fees for many indigent immigrants who are served by his firm.

The Holy Child Awards Dinner will be held March 24, 6 p.m. at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.holychild200.org or call (610) 626-1400.