Email: prelf@svdpdisaster.org
Patrice Relf serves as the Deputy Director of Programs at Disaster Services Corporation Society of St. Vincent de Paul-USA. Patrice Relf began her career in disaster recovery in 2012 as a Crisis Counselor to New York individuals and families impacted by Hurricane Irene in August 2011. What started as a time-limited effort to help rebuild New York post-graduation at Hunter College in New York, NY with a Bachelor of Arts, Special Honors Curriculum, Magna Cum Laude, turned into a career dedicated to rebuilding communities’ post-disasters across the United States of America.
In November 2012, Patrice joined the Catholic Charities USA Federal Immediate Disaster Case Management Program (IDCMP), as a deployed cadre member for Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. During her time as a disaster case manager in the Hurricane Sandy IDCMP, Patrice grew a love for serving God’s people post disaster.
Patrice went on to join Catholic Charities Dioceses of Trenton in a long-term disaster case management program for Hurricane Sandy until June 2015. Afterwards, she spent some time working in the insurance industry assisting people after major accidents before accepting her call to continue working in the disaster recovery space.
In November 2016, Chief Programs Officer, Anthony Pluchino, encouraged Patrice to join Disaster Services Division Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Louisiana as a disaster case manager assisting survivors impacted by severe storms and flooding. SVDP Disaster Division grew to a corporation in 2017, under the leadership of CEO, Elizabeth Disco-Shearer.
Patrice worked under the leadership of Program Director, Gail Bertrand, and transitioned to Disaster Case Manager Supervisor in 2017. In 2018, Patrice was promoted to Director of Case Management for DSC SVDP-USA in the Project Comeback Texas Hurricane Harvey Disaster Case Management Program. DSC SVDP-USA provided over sixty-three million dollars in services to Hurricane Harvey survivors throughout seventeen counties in the state of Texas.
Since 2018, Patrice Relf has lead disaster case management programs in Louisiana, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. In August 2023, Patrice accepted the honor of becoming a core team member at Disaster Services Corporation SVDP-USA as Deputy Director of Programs and continues to serve individuals and families affected by natural and manmade disasters across the country.
