Dante Dauz wanted to help young people stay out of gangs and help train them to get jobs. He soon realized that, once students were trained, there were no places for them to work in City Heights. The Union of Pan Asian Communities (UPAC) Neighborhood Enterprise Center became a vision and a solution.
At the Neighborhood Enterprise Center, staff are available help people in the community figure out the kinds of licenses they need to get to start a business in the United States. They can even help community members get an email account, something that may be new to them when coming from another country.
The Enterprise Center also nas a Neighborhood Cafe which serves food that incorporates the communities’ cultural diversity. The kitchen is also available for rent and serves as a training center where students learn customer relations, money management and marketing skills.
The Product Design & Print center is where UPAC’s Youth Business Enterprise participants learn to operate special printing equipment. Their brand DiverCity Heights, which can be seen printed on mugs and tote bags, has become popular among locals.
To learn more about the UPAC Neighborhood Enterprise Center, visit http://nec.upacsd.com/
Read more at Speak City Heights http://www.speakcityheights.org
Produced by Ha Uyen (Ammie) Phan, Media Arts Center San Diego https://mediaartscenter.org
Speak City Heights is a media collaborative with partners KPBS, voiceofsandiego.org, The AjA Project and Media Arts Center San Diego with funding from the California Endowment, aimed at amplifying the voices of residents in one of San Diego’s most diverse neighborhoods.