Distinguished Alumni Service Award

Carrie Norris entered St. Paul’s in PreK and graduated in the Class of 2000. While there, she developed life-long friendships and filled her extra-curricular calendar by cheering for the Saints. She continued her education at The University of Alabama, where she received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Speech-Language Pathology. She was a member of Chi Omega and served as the sorority’s house manager. While at Alabama, the football team lost more games than they won, but they did secure a life-long Crimson Tide fan in Carrie.

Upon graduation in 2006, Carrie worked in Birmingham for United Cerebral Palsy as a Speech Pathologist. She worked primarily with children, ages birth to three, with special needs. Her impact on the lives of the children she served developed into lasting relationships with many of the families to this day.

While in Birmingham, Carrie became involved in the outreach ministries at Church of the Highlands. She served the Woodlawn community by leading outreach based small groups focused on caring for at-risk children. After working for two years at United Cerebral Palsy, Carrie joined the staff of Church of the Highlands to focus on helping people discover their purpose and passion within their jobs and in the church. Carrie helped launch the Greystone Campus of the Church of the Highlands and served as the Campus Coordinator for eight years. Her daily focus was to care for the needs of those at the Greystone Campus.

In 2014, Carrie moved to New Orleans as part of the launch team of One Hope Church. She currently serves as the Executive Administrator and Small Groups Coordinator for One Hope. One Hope’s focus is to help those who are far from God find hope through a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ. Carrie spends her days at work caring for people who are hurting and are far from God. One Hope recently celebrated their eighth anniversary and is currently in the middle of a building project - a project Carrie is heavily involved in. Carrie leads small groups and outreach projects, teaches discipleship classes, and serves in any area with a need. The move to New Orleans also brought Carrie full circle, as she found herself again cheering for the Saints. Carrie became a Louisiana certified foster parent in 2017. She supports biological families as they work though their case plans while providing a safe and nurturing home for kids until they can return home. Carrie has welcomed ten children into her home. Those foster placements have been in her home from a minimum of three weeks to a maximum of 19 months. She is in the process of adopting her 10th foster placement who is an absolute joy.

Carrie is active in Crossroads Nola, a local foster care organization. She supports a group of eight single foster moms by providing emotional and spiritual support while also helping them navigate visits with parents, the court system, and getting their everyday needs met so that they can better serve the kids in their home. Carrie also coordinates clothing, diaper, and toy donations for foster families throughout the New Orleans region. She teaches foster parent certification classes to those who are seeking to become certified foster parents for the whole state of Louisiana. By educating potential foster parents on trauma-informed parenting, how to coparent with biological families, and the realities of welcoming a child from hard places into their home, Carrie is affecting the futures of hundreds of children who will be placed in foster care. She also teaches classes to judges, foster care workers, teachers, counselors, and foster parents from all over Louisiana focused on trauma-informed care to help serve kids in the foster care system.

Carrie has established a life-long pattern of serving wherever there is a need, and she credits that foundation in part to her education from St. Paul’s.