What Can Uptown Do For You?

By becoming a member at Uptown, you can receive free services during our open hours (10am-1pm Mon-Fri). 

• Mailbox and Message Center:
  • Uptown Community Service Center serves as a mailing address for members who may not have a stable residential address where they can get their mail. Every weekday, Uptown volunteers sort the incoming mail (including packages) and hold onto it in the mailroom. When a member comes to collect their mail from the Uptown mailroom, a volunteer will check the member's ID (or perform an alternative security measure if the member does not have an ID) to make sure the mail is released to the right person.

• Food Distribution:
  • Members can request food bags and will receive a bag of shelf-stable food items. Depending on volunteer availability day to day, fresh meals are also sometimes served. Mondays and Fridays are typically "grill days" (hot dogs and hamburgers).  

• Showers, Clothing & Hygiene Items:
  • Showers are available at Uptown on Mondays and Fridays (NOTE: Showers are not available this week - please bear with us as we sort out mechanical issues).
  • Donated clothing is available for members daily.
  • Members can request hygiene bags and will receive a bag with some general hygiene items (oral hygiene, haircare, etc.). Additional specialized hygiene items (ex: diapers) may be available depending on what has recently been donated to Uptown.

• Referrals for Other Services:
  • Uptown has longstanding relationships with various organizations and service providers in our local community. If you need help with something that Uptown Community Service Center does not directly provide, we can help point you in the right direction.

How to become a member of Uptown Community Service Center and start receiving our services:

1. Fill out the Uptown Membership Application. If you come visit us at 4101 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92105 during open ours (10am-1pm Mon-Fri) and ask for a new membership form, the volunteers will provide one for you to fill out. If you prefer, you may also print the form out elsewhere and bring it in already completed. 
2. Come visit us and bring your ID. When the mailroom volunteers accept your completed membership application, they will also borrow your ID to make a copy of it for our records. This is to make sure that our members are correctly identified each time they receive services from Uptown, which is particularly important because we are responsible for members' mail. If you do not have an ID, or if you're not sure if your ID will work for Uptown security purposes, ask a mailroom volunteer for help.

Thank you for your interest in Uptown's services, and we hope we can be of assistance!