Volunteer Opportunities

UPAC’s Cultural Food Pantry

UPAC’s Cultural Food Pantry offers free food shopping opportunities every Saturday from 10:00am to 1:00pm. Volunteers are part of our team that provides essential food staples, fresh produce and cultural food items to low-income families living in City Heights and Southeast San Diego.

Volunteer opportunities:
Fridays – 11:00am to 5:00pm to assist in organizing food for Saturday.
Saturdays – 11:00am to 5:00pm to assist individuals shopping in the pantry, completing registration support, re-stocking food items and bagging food.

For additional information contact: Joe Fraser (jfraser@upacsd.com)

ACE Partners

Help change the trajectory of the lives of at-risk youth and youth with gang involvement. Mentor youth from diverse background and experiences between ages of 14 and 20 years old. Prospective mentors and mentees will be assessed to make the best match. Engage in various individual and group activities including movies, amusement parks, ball games, BBQ’s, playing sports, museums, video games, and discussions designed to encourage and empower the youth.

Mentor requirements:

Willing to engage with the youth in various activities at a minimum of 4 hours per month
Successfully complete full volunteer on-boarding (livescan, TB, DMV, orientation)
No experience necessary. Must be mature and since in wanting to make a positive impact on the lives of an at-risk youth.
UPAC covers the costs of tickets for outings and food with mentees.

For addition information contact: Bevelyn Bravo (619-708-4220 or bbravo@upacsd.com)

UPAC offers practicum and field placement and volunteer opportunities. Please see individual program descriptions and opportunities below.

All interns and volunteers are required to complete UPAC’s onboarding process which includes, but is not limited to a background check, TB testing and fingerprinting.

Mental Health Programs

Counseling and Treatment Center

Counseling and Treatment Center provides outpatient mental health services to all populations, with a focus on Asian and Pacific Islander adults, who are 18 years of age and older with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, co-occurring substance abuse and other related difficulties. We provide services to those with moderate to severe mental health conditions. Our main location is in City Heights, and we also have a satellite location in Serra Mesa. Services are culturally and linguistically appropriate in order to meet the unique needs that are connected to the tradition and culture of an individual.

Our clinical team is made up of clinicians (AMFT, ASW, APCC), interns, case managers, employment specialist, Nurse Practitioners, Nurse, Geriatric Specialist, and Care Coordinator who provide direct services to our clients. Our administrative staff includes Program Manager, Office Manager, Assistant Supervisor, administrative assistants, and Quality Management Specialist. Our clinical supervisor is on site (also available via phone and e-mail) and provides group and triadic supervision.

Intern responsibilities include holding a caseload of 10-15 clients, assisting with screenings, completing intakes, completing other documentation and other duties as needed. There are 2 required meetings a week which include our Staff Meeting and Treatment Team meeting (these are currently held Friday mornings). We utilize electronic health record- Cerner- to document all interactions and services provided to our clients. Training includes Cerner, documentation training, cultural competency annual requirement of 4 hours, and others, as needed.

Our hours of operation are 8:30 am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. We ask for a 12-month commitment and 20 hours a week during this 12-month period. Interns have flexibility to schedule their hours with this site within the hours of operation as we understand you are balancing different responsibilities.

Contact Information:
For internship opportunities please e-mail resume to: Katherin Torres – Program Manager (Ktorres@upacsd.com)

Positive Solutions

UPAC Positive Solutions Program is a county contracted program successfully serving the older adults of San Diego for more than a decade. Our incredible team of professionals work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of home bound, socially isolated, marginalized older adults of San Diego. We are well-established and have been serving San Diegans successfully for more than a decade. Our entire services are FREE for the clients as we do not charge any insurance. We have two offices; one in Miramar and another at San Marcos to cover the Central, North Central, North Inland, and north county of San Diego.

We utilized the evidenced based treatment modality called PEARLS (Program to Encourage Active and Rewarding Lives), developed by University of Washington, Seattle which continues to evolve toward better service deliveries. PEARLS is a combination of Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) short term intervention aimed at treating depression or symptoms of depression.

Interns/students are trained on these modalities so that they can be a successful clinician in their practice. We provide weekly 2 Hrs. Clinical Groups and an hour of individual training/supervision as needed. Interns/Students are expected to contribute at least 16 hours/week with a year of commitment. Along with the required weekly 2 hours clinical groups students are also required to attend monthly all staff meetings to stay current with the policy & procedures and program information.

Contact Information:
Please do not hesitate to reach us if you are interested to join a great team of professionals. You can email your resume to: Velia Gitari, MA (Program Manager) at vgitari@upacsd.com or our Program Assistant, Yndira Esquivel at yesquivel@upacsd.com.

Promise Wellness Center

PWC provides outpatient mental health services to all populations, with a focus on Promise Zone Regions which include zip codes 92102, 92113, 92114, and 92139. We work with those who are 18 years of age and older with depression, anxiety, psychosis post-traumatic stress, co-occurring substance abuse and other related struggles.

For internship opportunities please e-mail resume to: Carolina Reyna, LMFT, Program Manager (reyna@upacsd.com)

Children’s & Adolescent Mental Health

UPAC Children’s Mental Health (CMH) provides services to individuals age 5-20 and their families who meet seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) criteria established by Medi-Cal and County Mental Health. Population is low-income, Medi-Cal eligible or uninsured, that present multiple psychosocial and environmental problems. 80% of CMH clients are of Latino and/or African American descent.

Services are provided at the clinic site, in the schools, in the homes and within the community. Majority of our schools are in Southeast and City Heights/Mid City. Some evening work required. We provide strength-based and culturally sensitive services and welcome those with alcohol and/or drug and mental health disorders. Individual, family and some group therapy. Psychiatric evaluation, medication management, substance abuse counseling, and case management services are also provided.

Some prior experience working with children, youth and families preferred but not required. Ability to maintain strict confidentiality, ability to prioritize multiple tasks and bring them to fruition, organized, excellent oral and written communication skills, and be comfortable and committed to the field and to working with children and families of low socio-economic status and are multicultural. Must submit to and receive clearance on criminal record background check prior to placement.

Please note, we currently only accept students from CoAAMFT accredited programs.

Contact Information:
At this time, CMH is only recruiting at SDSU and Alliant fairs.

Substance Use Disorder Programs

Adult Alcohol & Drug Treatment and Recovery

At UPAC Adult Alcohol & Drug Treatment Recovery Center, our mission is to provide outpatient Substance Use Disorder treatment specifically focused on adults 18+, refugees, immigrants and other underserved populations who reside in San Diego County. Our program provides innovative and effective substance abuse treatment and recovery services to empower the individual to reach their full potential, improve their quality of life, strengthen their families, and benefit the communities they live in. ATR takes a client centered approach in which clients can receive group counseling, individual counseling, and or therapy each week. Clients have access to case managers to assist them with finding housing, income resources, food banks in the community, transportation needs, and other daily living needs.

The length of the commitment: 10-12 months | The number of hours required of trainees per week: 18-20 hours/week | Site Operating Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00am-6:30pm | Group Supervision is provided

*Currently not accepting interns.

Contact Information:
Paul Herrmann, pherrmann@upacsd.com

Teen Recovery Center

At UPAC’s Teen Recovery Center (TRC), our mission is to provide teens and families the support they need throughout the recovery process. We offer affordable evidence-based care to our teens and provide a safe place where they can connect with others they can relate to. We provide SUD services to youth ages 12-17 at our main site and three schools in the San Diego Unified School District.

Interns are expected to commit to 10 months with the program, with a weekly average of 16-18 hours on-site. Interns will be paired with a Primary Counselor and assist in providing/facilitating the following: assessments; individual, group, and family counseling sessions; case management; drug testing; and prosocial activities. All interns will be required to register with CCAPP and complete about 15 hours of County trainings in the first month. They will also receive training on DMC-ODS paperwork and documentation. UPAC also provides weekly BBS-required clinical supervision and bi-weekly AOD supervision for all interns.