It Takes a Village

Actor and social activist Richard Gere didn’t make a big deal over his presence at N Street Village’s Annual Gala at The Ritz-Carlton. As a matter of fact, he blended right in – if that’s possible for the megastar who’s looking better than ever. By blended we mean he didn’t call attention to himself; but rather, focused his attention on the purpose of the evening as well as the honorees. Richard Gere could have been anywhere this night, but was here in Washington, DC.

“I live in New York and spent many many years putting together a film called Time out of Mind. In the process of putting the film out there I’d gotten to know a lot of local groups around the world. I just did the US and they’re (N Street Village) actually one of the better ones: No doubt about it,” he told Hollywood on the Potomac.

“After the release, I had shown the film not only in cities all over America, but also in Europe. I’m here to applaud you, you’re part of an organization that is one of the very top best that I have seen,” he remarked about N Street Village. “I’ve seen some really good ones, some that are not so good, but some that are really good and this is up there at the absolute top of that. They live it (homelessness) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and it’s not nice. It’s about housing and community. We need a place, we need to be social beings, but also part of it is we need a place where our key will unlock the door or a letter box. That’s a beginning point, housing first.”