In Memphis, the work of stopping a shooting often starts long before anyone pulls a trigger and sometimes long after most of the city has gone to bed. Memphis Allies runs around the clock, with outreach specialists, life coaches, and clinical staff trying to slide between potential shooters and victims before the next round of gunfire. The strategy mixes on-the-street intervention with intensive casework and modest stipends meant to keep participants close and engaged.
Operations leader Carl Davis says it is not unusual for his team to head out at 1 or 2 a.m., because, as he puts it, “their phone call could definitely be the difference between life and death or jail and freedom.” He oversees a roughly 225-member network that Youth Villages launched in 2022 and funded as the city struggled with rising homicide totals, according to Action News 5.
At the center of the effort is the SWITCH model, short for Support With Intention To Create Hope. It pairs street outreach with life coaching, case management, and clinical services for people roughly ages 12 to 35. Program materials say SWITCH is built to meet participants where they are and to provide intensive daily contact instead of sporadic check-ins. The initiative is funded through a mix of state agreements and private support as it builds neighborhood centers across the city, according to Memphis Allies.
How SWITCH Works
SWITCH teams require daily contact between participants and life coaches, and many participants come to low-key program centers for casework and meals as part of a 12 to 18-month engagement. In fiscal year 2023-24, the program reported serving about 512 people, and materials say progress can include employment training, family involvement, and trauma-focused therapy, as reported by the Memphis Flyer.
Tactics On The Ground
On any given day, outreach specialists are scrolling social media, riding MATA buses, or showing up at late-night scenes to interrupt retaliation cycles and offer alternatives. Staff say they feed participants during visits and provide stipends that average about $150 a week to help keep people in the fold. They also hold incident-review meetings that are separate from police, mapping out who might be connected to a shooting and how to calm things down. Of roughly 600 highest-risk men who have stayed engaged with the program, staff report that about 91 percent have not been charged with a new gun offense since joining, according to Action News 5.
Why This Matters Now
The push comes against a backdrop of high homicide totals in recent years, and Memphis Allies’ profile rose sharply after a fatal shooting at a program meeting in April 2025. That killing led to a CrimeStoppers reward increase. The episode underscored how community intervention works and criminal investigations often run side by side, and it drove home the stakes for groups trying to stop the next act of retaliation. Local coverage of the attack fueled renewed calls for information and support…