Union of Pan Asian Communities (UPAC) started in 1974 when its founding Executive Director, Beverley Yip, and six leaders of the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities (Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Samoan, and Guamanian) united and pioneered the way for UPAC’s first City of San Diego grant. Using these funds, they established a cultural adjustment and language assistance program to ease access to community resources. At that time, no single Asian group was large enough or vocal enough to pursue the basic services desperately needed by its impoverished, ill, elderly and limited English-speaking members.
As refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia began arriving in San Diego with multiple health, behavioral health, educational and housing needs, through her courage, compassion, and devotion to UPAC’s mission, Beverley Yip was instrumental in developing UPAC’s culturally and linguistically appropriate programs to address those special needs. Through Ms. Yip’s leadership, UPAC emerged as the only bilingual, bi-cultural, multi-service agency for San Diego’s Asian populations.
After Ms. Yip’s death in 1991, the Beverley Yip Scholarship was created and sustained by her husband, Phillip, and children, Janice Yip and Keith Yip, to provide scholarships to assist students in pursuing post-secondary education and/or training toward a degree or career in social work, behavioral health, health and human services, or related fields.
Today, UPAC provides health and human services focused on improving the overall well-being of all underserved diverse populations in San Diego County. Assistance is provided in over 30 languages at 15 locations across San Diego County, and programs focus on mental health counseling, community engagement and business development, addiction treatment and recovery, housing counseling, health promotion and cultural competency education.
Application Qualifications & Requirements
The purpose of the Beverley Yip Scholarship is to provide scholarships to qualified students in need of financial aid to assist them in pursuing post-secondary education and/or training toward a degree or career in social work, behavioral health, or related fields in health and human services.
Questions about the Beverley Yip Scholarship? Contact Katie Boatman at kboatman@upacsd.com.
There are two (2) Scholarships available for the 2023-2024 academic year. One $2,500 Scholarship for students pursuing an undergraduate degree and one $2,500 Scholarship for students pursuing a post-graduate degree. Each applicant must submit a completed application and meet the following qualifications to be eligible for consideration for a Beverley Yip Scholarship:
- Have completed at least a secondary (high school) education by the 2022-2023 academic year for undergraduate scholarship or have completed undergraduate education by the 2023-2024 academic year for post-graduate scholarship;
- Be a current resident of San Diego County;
- Be pursuing a degree or career in social work, behavioral health, addiction treatment and recovery, or related fields on health and human services;
- Demonstrate financial need; and
- Have demonstrated academic and leadership ability and/or community involvement.
*Please note, current UPAC employees and interns are ineligible to apply for this scholarship*
To be complete, your application submission must include all of the following:
- Your completed application;
- An autobiographical statement (see requirements on application);
- Two letters of recommendation; and
- Your most recent official school transcripts and/or report card. *Due to Covid-19, if unable to obtain official transcripts, unofficial will be accepted*
Completed applications must be submitted to UPAC, postmarked no later than April 1, 2023, and should be mailed to:
Union of Pan Asian Communities
Attn: Katie Boatman
1031 25th Street
San Diego, CA 92102
