San Diego\’s South Bay

Are your youth concerned about poverty, immigration, and the environment? Serve with SSP in San Diego’s South Bay to explore these issues which are very real in the communities adjacent to the US / Mexico border.

Service Work in San Diego’s South Bay

Volunteers may work on a blend of community-led projects and traditional SSP repair work. As grant funding for building materials is available, typical home repair projects in San Diego include painting, rebuilding fences, and other home repairs. No construction experience is needed, and you’ll be amazed at all of the work that your youth teams complete! Most projects take longer to complete than your week at SSP so you may see the beginning, middle or end of a project.

Our 2025 partners for community-led projects include:

• Hope Crisis Response Network (HCRN)

  • In January 2024, a major flood event damaged nearly 1,000 homes, leaving many residents unable to return home. Even now, hundreds of families can’t reoccupy their homes because of extensive water damage. Two SSP work teams (ages 16+) will work with HCRN each week, primarily helping with the finishing touches of installing drywall, painting, and flooring.

• Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve (TRNERR)

  • TRNERR is one of 30 Reserves in the United States. They preserve, protect, and manage the natural and cultural resources of the Tijuana River Estuary by creating opportunities for education and research while promoting public access for recreation throughout the Reserve.
  • This important wildlife habitat, comprised of sand dunes and salt marshes, gives refuge to critically threatened and endangered birds
  • Check out their Divided Together podcast, created to help visitors explore Border Field State Park (located within the Reserve, but is currently closed) and learn about it’s origins. Each episode showcases the park through a unique perspective that ties the land to its people.
  • Friendship Park (located in Border Field State Park) has been closed for over five years. It was previously a highlight of our San Diego program. Learn about the Friends of International Friendship Park and view a photographic history of Friendship Park.

• Silver Strand State Beach

  • The park is located on the sand-spit that forms the outer edge of San Diego Bay between Coronado and Imperial Beach.
  • Volunteers will help remove iceplant which spreads easily, and has become invasive in coastal California. Because it is a coastal invader, it competes with many endangered, threatened, and rare plants.

• Stay tuned for more community partners to be announced as the summer approaches!

In 2022, volunteers completed projects for 8 homeowners and 4 community organizations. They constructed a deck, painted three houses, built four fences, and stained two additional fences. We also completed some great work for our community partners, including: planting and watering trees at the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park, 43 volunteer days at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, and painted at the YMCA’s Camp Surf. Participants who crossed into Mexico on Adventure Day completed several painting and revitalization projects at the Binational Friendship Garden.

Community Engagement in San Diego’s South Bay

In South Bay, we will focus our service and learning around the intersection of immigration, wealth inequality, and the environment. We will work with city governments, community organizations, and churches to organize our work near the international border of the US and Mexico.

Almost half a million people reside in South Bay, which has a relatively large immigrant population. Both the Border Field State Park (home of Friendship Park) and the San Ysidro Port of Entry are located in South Bay.

The Tijuana River estuary is the largest wetland in Southern California, with a watershed from both San Diego County and across the border in Tijuana. During the winter rainy season, sewage contamination from Tijuana impacts the beach from the international border north to Coronado.

San Diego | Del Norte County