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At least 400 people are homeless in Lorain County, according to Joan Samkow, a key organizer of the dinner. Samkow also is communications director for the Lorain County Board of Mental Health.
Mental illness affects about one in every three homeless people and many also suffer with addictions, said Bill Harper, former executive director of the mental health board and now assistant director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health.
Human dignity and the goodness inherent in every person, including the homeless, were themes of the guest speaker, Aman Matwone.
Motwane, author of the motivational book ''Yes, You Can Change the World,'' spoke about the need for people to believe in the intrinsic good in themselves and others.
He previously worked with homeless children in Seattle through an art project that helped inspire them.
''For all the homeless people, they need to believe they have something extraordinary in them,'' Motwane said in an interview. ''For the rest of people, we tend to look away from the homeless, discard them. If society believes there's some value, we'll help.''
By truly believing that there is good in every individual, even if they are behaving badly, it becomes possible to find that goodness and to provide a path for it to be expressed in the wider world, Motwane said at the dinner.
Inspiring others leads in turn to them passing that inspiration to more and more people, changing the world in a chain reaction that all starts with that first individual.
Real world-altering change always starts at the grassroots level and spreads through a ripple effect so people should not feel trapped into waiting for change for the better to happen from the top down, Motwane said he believes.
One important way Lorain County's homeless individuals get assistance is through a program called PATH. That is short for Projects in Assisting in the Transition from Homelessness. PATH works with police and churches to locate the homeless and to provide them with food, shelter and other needs.
''We get them hooked into mental health services, and from there we try to get them hooked into housing or Social Security and any kind of benefits if they're eligible,'' said Carla Hartman, coordinator of PATH, speaking in an interview. ''We run the gamut. If they need clothing, we try to get them clothing. Whatever they need, we become their advocate.''
Hartman said that the agency and others doing similar work need more collaboration as the number of homeless people increase.
''This dinner was to build awareness, and there are a lot of agencies already networking, but with the problem becoming larger, it's becoming very clear that we're going to have to come to the table and start brainstorming,'' Hartman said.
At the dinner, she told the guests she started her job thinking she was going to change lives for the better, not realizing how much the homeless people she meets have come to enrich her life.
The Board of Mental Health has created a calendar for the rest of this year and next year that lists a different way each month that people can help, such as volunteering at a food bank or donating a sleeping bag, Samkow said.
The calendar will be distributed to the board's 18 agencies and hopefully inspire others to act as Motwane encouraged.
''Each and every one of us has an obligation to change the world, and the world will not change unless each of us does,'' Motwane said in an interview.
Among other community leaders at the dinner were Lorain Mayor Anthony Krasienko, County Commissioners Ted Kalo and Lori Kokoski, Sheriff Phil Stammitti, 13th District State Sen. Sue Morano and Gail Stumphauzer, executive director of Leadership Lorain County. The audience was welcomed by Charles Neff, current executive director of the Lorain County mental health board
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