Media Uploader in template file

Hi;
I am having a real conundrum: how can I get an image upload button to activate the WP media image uploader so that users can add an image to their profile instead of using gravatar?

I searched high and low and found numerous solutions on the web. Regardless of which one I implement, I can not get the media uploader to load up when clicking on the Image Upload button created in the custom profile template I created.

Does anyone know how to make that work? using plugins only works from the admin panel. I obviously don’t want my users to have access to that panel.

Anyone? Thanks.

Lode