A community organizer and the founder of a street newspaper for the homeless will be honored Thursday at the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice’s annual awards dinner.

Christine Smith, coordinator for Peace and Justice, said the group’s 21st annual awards dinner will be at 6 p.m. at Conroy’s Pub, 3115 W. Sixth St. The dinner is open to all, and those attending will order off the pub’s menu, she said.

Honored this year will be Marilyn Hull, a program and communications officer for the Douglas County Community Foundation, and Craig Sweets, founder and editor of the street newspaper Change of Heart.

Hull took the position at DCCF after working for Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and Kansas University Continuing Education because of the opportunity to serve the entire community through support of nonprofits. Of importance to Hull is community health, a concern she has advanced through helping with the creation of walking and biking trails, efforts to make healthy food and gardening accessible, educational outreach and the founding of the LiveWell Lawrence Coalition.

Sweets founded Change of Heart in 1997 with the hope it would change local attitudes toward the homeless and remove change from pockets for what was a publication and work program. Sweets writes many of the stories in the paper, which is published four times a year. He also prints submissions from the homeless, an experience that can be very meaningful and educational for the writers.

Smith said one of the perks of her positions was getting to read submissions on all the nominees who are doing great things in the community. They prove the Lawrence community is the real winner from the work of winners and other nominees, she said.