Real Safety D.C.: Faith, Community and Healing Beyond Incarceration
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.
Thomas Penny III, President of Donohoe Hospitality, brings a perspective shaped by more than two decades of work expanding access to hospitality careers for D.C.-area residents, including formerly incarcerated people. Donohoe Hospitality operates 20 hotels across the DMV, Baltimore, Charlottesville, and Las Vegas, and Penny said the company’s commitment to safety and opportunity is rooted in the same communities where many of its team members live.
A longtime advocate for workforce development, Penny has partnered with organizations like the Greater Washington Urban League, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, the D.C. Department of Employment Services, local universities, and numerous community-based organizations to connect residents to jobs and long-term career pathways. He serves on several boards, including the Mayor’s Workforce Investment Council, the DC Public Ed Fund, and the DC NAF Hospitality Executive Advisory Board, helping expose students to the breadth of opportunities in the industry.
“The best way to stop a bullet is with a job,” Penny said. “So, it’s about getting folks placed and putting them in a position to feed their families. To the extent they can do that, crime goes down significantly.”
A native Washingtonian, Penny said his commitment to helping stabilize communities is personal. As a young man, he did not always make the right decisions, and the loss of his older brother pushed him to change direction.
“I changed trajectories when I lost my only brother, only sibling,” he said. “When he was 20 years old, he was killed in a car accident, and [I] started to make different choices. I just remember growing up, my father saying to me, ‘Son, doesn’t matter what you have in your yard. If your brother or sister doesn’t have enough, the struggle continues.’”
Recently, Penny said the broader economic landscape has become more challenging for workers and employers alike.
“Over the past 18 months, we had seen more folks get placed in our hotels, more folks get placed in the industry,” he said. “[N]ow the industry is not as healthy as it once was. So, we got folks not getting hours, and now we got some folks unemployed.”
He urges his peers in the business community to channel the same energy and influence they bring to crime policy debates into expanding employment opportunities—especially for citizens returning to the community after incarceration.
“I would strongly encourage my colleagues in business to engage in a significant way to help get folks from a position of instability to stability, and all that rests with their ability to feed their family and get access to jobs,” he said. “There’s talent here. Many of the individuals that may have went to prison—they had skills. They just were not using them the right way. And if we can allow for them to use them the right way, our businesses will be better for it.”
What gives Penny hope, he said, is the dedication of the people who continue to work toward safer, stronger communities—even in difficult moments.
“I think we can meet this moment,” he said. “We still have resources and committed individuals in this city that is disproportionate to other cities. I just think we’re uniquely positioned to get through this current moment.”
