Not left behind, Calvin Sanford finds his mission as a SWITCH Youth life coach

In 2010, Calvin Sanford was staring at a potential 66-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery and burglary.

“I didn’t do that one,” he said. “I knew who did, but I didn’t tell.”

Fortunately for Sanford, he did not end up going to prison for a crime he did not commit. But he also knew if he continued living the life he was living, fate was bound to fall the other way.

So, after avoiding that long prison term, he stopped lying to himself.

“That was life changing; I see things from a different perspective,” said Sanford, 42, who works as a life coach in Memphis Allies’ SWITCH Youth program. “God didn’t bring me through this just to be lucky.”

Gun crime is lost family time

Sanford graduated from Christian Brothers University in 2022. He also is founder of Marketality, LLC, and has used his skills in video direction and production to reach the same young people who are at the highest risk for gun violence and might become participants in SWITCH Youth and Memphis Allies’ SWITCH program for adults.

One video, “The People You Take With You,” won a Silver Telly Award in the categories of local television and campaign/PSA. Sanford is credited with directing the short.

The video begins with the camera trained on a young man behind bars. The camera then pans left to another cell with a young woman and a baby. And then to another cell with the young man’s parents, and still another cell that holds the young man’s grandmother.

“When you commit a crime, not only do you go to jail, but you also imprison the ones who love you and care about you,” the video’s voiceover says. “Your family don’t deserve the time that you serve. Serving time is a selfish crime. Put the guns down. Don’t waste your time.”

Marketality made the video in cooperation with the city of Memphis. Brittney Ragin, Memphis Allies’ director of clinical programs, says Sanford has more than one way he can contribute.

“Calvin’s got real-life experience and is doing a good job with participants,” she said. “He’s also got creative talent and is trying to produce some content for the work we do.”

More than one road to success

In his work as a SWITCH Youth life coach, Sanford is also trying to look through a creative lens. One example: helping a participant who is a high school senior get into a welding program.

Sanford says it is a better fit for this young man than a four-year college, and this is the case for a lot of young people who need a more expedient path to a full-time job that pays a living wage.

“This young man was so excited to see the welding school, the quick pace of it, going to school for one year and coming out and getting a good job,” Sanford said.

Welding is just one option. Plumbing and HVAC are also professional trades offering avenues to well-paying employment and opening the possibility of eventual entrepreneurship.

“You can get your certification, and you don’t have to write essays,” Sanford said.

His life coach supervisor, Dedrick Sears, says Sanford has become a go-to guy for finding just the right partnerships—whether for education or employment.

“He’s got connections and relationships all over Memphis,” Sears said.

And no small point: the freedom to make them. Sanford knows well that he was perilously close to living out the best years of his life in a cell.

“A lot of my friends are still on drugs, or in prison, or just getting out from 20 years ago,” he said. “My best friend is dead. Memphis Allies is my ministry.”

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