Senator Collins And Richard Gere Discuss Shared Commitment To Ending

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins and actor, Richard Gere, met in Washington this afternoon to discuss their shared commitment to end homelessness.

As Chairman of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations (THUD) Subcommittee, Senator Collins has long led calls for further funding to fight homelessness and for stronger coordination between, federal, state, and local governments. This year’s THUD appropriations bill provides $2.2 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants to combat homelessness.

Richard Gere stars as a homeless man estranged from his daughter in New York City in the new movie, “Time Out of Mind.” Mr. Gere has done charitable work over the last decade with the New York Coalition for the Homeless.

In June, Senator Collins penned a weekly column, “Helping America’s Homeless Youth,” after hosting U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julián Castro, in Maine to see firsthand how organizations in Maine are working to end runaway and youth homelessness.