Washington — Media mogul Oprah Winfrey pledged $1 million Thursday to N Street Village, a social-services agency in the District of Columbia that has served thousands of homeless women over four decades.

“The thing that excites me the most about N Street,” Winfrey told a crowd gathered at a fundraising luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton, “is that you are an intention-based organization. You don’t just help, heal and get women to recover, but your intention is literally to transform lives.”

In a 20-minute speech, Winfrey, who wore a gray and black dress and had her hair in a ponytail, talked about the power of transcendence.

She praised N Street for helping women to “transcend, to step out of the history, to step out of the shame, out of the confusion and the chaos and the drugs and the sense of unworthiness and to reclaim themselves as rightful people in the world.”

Winfrey had received a standing ovation as she stepped onto the stage in the ballroom where N Street celebrated its 10th Annual Empowerment Luncheon. The event shines a light on vulnerable women in the District who grapple with poverty, homelessness, drug addiction and health crises.

N Street has been recognized nationally as a model for success at ending women’s homelessness. Programs focus on compassion, personal responsibility and empowerment. The shelter has long attracted star advocates. In March, actor Richard Gere visited N Street and Broadway star Jennifer Holliday performed at an evening fundraiser.

N Street was founded in the winter of 1975, providing cots and hot meals to women in danger.