In partnership with Public Welfare Foundation’s Real Safety D.C.education campaign, The Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark-Barnes hosted a one-hour roundtable as part of the paper’s Let’s Talk video series.
Held at the Lankford Auditorium inside the historic True Reformer Building on U Street NW, the discussion brought together four D.C. leaders from faith, business, government, and community sectors to explore non-carceral solutions to prevent violence and strengthen safety in the District.
Rev. Delonte Gholston, senior pastor of Peace Fellowship Church and organizer of PeaceWalksDC—a coalition of churches, community groups, survivors, and advocates committed to ending police and community violence—was one of four guests.
A native Washingtonian, Gholston previously lived in Los Angeles, where he served as pastor for advocacy and community engagement at New City Church of Los Angeles and worked on gun violence prevention and police accountability efforts. When he returned home to the District, the urgency of the issue became personal.
“Not long after I came back to D.C., a couple of my friends were killed,” Gholston said. “Then my nephew was shot five times on Georgia Avenue.” He lived, but Gholston was spurred to action.
That moment prompted him to organize D.C.’s churches around a collective response to community violence. PeaceWalksDC was born, offering spiritual, emotional, and material support to neighborhoods most impacted by both community and police violence.
“For seven years, our peace walks have been a way to listen and respond to what people need,” Gholston said. “Over and over again, people tell us they need jobs, they’re struggling with mental health, and they’re asking for prayer.”
Gholston later founded Just Peace Ministries, which launched Fund Peace Now—an initiative that trains, employs, and supports young people through entrepreneurship and workforce development. His latest project, Gen Peace, aims to expand D.C.’s summer youth employment program for the first time in 50 years by offering after-school jobs for Gen Z and Gen Y youth.
“How do you teach someone to fish?” he said. “You give them an opportunity to not be the problem, but part of the solution.”
Reflecting on the current national climate, Gholston said America is in a moment of deep division and distrust—but also of potential reconciliation.
“Once we’ve addressed the wrongs, we can come to the table as equals, as human beings, and say, ‘Hey, there’s an issue we’re all interested in working on. Let’s work on it together,” he said.
Gholston believes achieving real safety in D.C. will require collective action.
“This is one of those moments where it’s all hands on deck,” he said. “If we’re going to change the course for those who desperately need it, we all have to do more.”
