BALTIMORE — Salvation through sports is what is happening inside a building on the corner of West Franklin Street.
What used to be a church is now known as The Sanctuary, a Baltimore youth sports nonprofit built to uplift through basketball and community.
"Basketball in Baltimore is a significant part of our culture," Sam Brand said.
Baltimore youth sports nonprofit The Sanctuary uplifts the community through basketball and mentorship
Brand is the CEO and program director at The Sanctuary. The Baltimore native played high school basketball at Poly and collegiality at Morgan State.
Having an indelible love for the sport, Brand wanted to create an intentional program for the youth which features basketball, nutrition, behavioral health,academics and more.
"[We're] trying to help people reach their dreams, and to be realistic about what it looks like to chase them if you're going to positively impact someone," Brand said. "Just focusing on basketball is gonna limit your impact in basketball."
Brand has also noticed how basketball and community have changed throughout the years. The game isn't as accessible as it once was, so he has taken it upon himself to provide exceptional experiences for kids.
On Tuesday, he invited Chris Matthews, otherwise known as LethalShooter, one of the most famous shooting coaches in the world, to stop by his gym.
"We're having to kind of create those access points and that's what The Sanctuary represents, is how do we get the benefits of the outdoor play that we used to get that we don't happen anymore?" Brand said. "How do we get the benefits of the mentorship that we got through recreational programming within rec centers in our community and how do we re imagine that and what that looks like."
For any and every kid that walks through these doors, Brand hopes they leave with a specific understanding.
"Remember that this is a game that in order to get better and to do all these great things you gotta start with the love of it and it's a game that develops community so that love in that community attached to getting better, and having an understanding of that when you leave this space is something that we hope every participant has," Brand said.
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