Now that a Fairfax County businessman has put up $1 million to host an inaugural weekend for hundreds of people who’ve hit hard times, he and his planners may face an even more challenging task in deciding who will attend.

Earl Stafford, a churchgoing Baptist and chairman and chief executive officer of a Centreville tech company, said Thursday he intends to invite about 1,000 Americans to The People’s Inaugural Project to be held Jan. 19 and 20 at downtown D.C.’s JW Marriott hotel. At least one-third of them, he said, will be “marginalized or distressed,” including those suffering terminal or mental illnesses, wounded veterans or the unemployed.