The Premier Event

Cards, Cocktails, and a Cause
An evening of euchre, auctions, and good company in support of Carriage House

Wednesday, October 7 | 6:00 to 9:00 PM | The Fairfield, Downtown Fort Wayne

Some nights you remember for the food. Some for the company. This one you'll remember for the moment your partner tables the left bower with a grin and the whole room hears about it.

Join us at The Fairfield for a night built for fun, laughter, and a little friendly competition. The evening opens with a hosted cash bar and a silent auction stacked with incredible items donated by Fort Wayne businesses. Browse, bid, and grab a drink before the real fun begins.

Then the cards come out. Your ticket includes a seat in our euchre tournament, and no, you don't need to be a shark to play. Never picked up a deck? Come anyway. Half the fun is the trash talk, and the other half is the raffle: bottles of donated bourbon and other fine spirits that would look very good on your shelf.

Why we're doing this

Every dollar raised supports Carriage House, a Fort Wayne nonprofit changing lives right here in our community, and fuels their Dancing with the Stars event on November 12. Your ticket, your bids, and your raffle luck all go straight to that mission.

Come for the cards. Stay for the cause. Bring someone who thinks they can beat you.

About This Cause

Why Carriage House? Carriage House is not a clinic, and it is not a shelter. It is a community. Since 1997, it has been a place where adults living with mental illness discover their strengths, build real relationships, and work toward the life they want. It runs on what's called the Clubhouse Model. Rather than traditional talk therapy, members and staff share responsibility for running every part of the house, working side by side. That shared work builds relationships based on what each person can contribute, not on what's wrong with them, and it lets members see themselves differently: not as patients, but as people with gifts. Beyond the daily work of the house, Carriage House helps members find housing, secure employment, pursue education, and access benefits and community resources. The results speak for themselves. What began as a few dozen members has grown into a program that has served over 2,000 people, with more than 500 returning to work and over 230 pursuing educational goals. Membership is completely free. No dues, no fees, no time limits. Someone who walks through that door belongs there for life. That's only possible because of nights like this one. Dancing with the Fort Wayne Stars is the organization's biggest fundraiser, covering roughly a third of Carriage House's annual budget. Every dollar you spend on October 7, whether it's a ticket, a bid, or a raffle entry, goes straight toward that goal. You're not just buying a night of euchre and bourbon. You're helping someone in our city get a job, keep an apartment, finish a degree, or simply walk into a room where they're known and wanted. That's worth showing up for. One change worth flagging: I switched "not as a patient, but as a person with gifts" to the plural to match "members" earlier in the sentence. If you prefer the singular for punch, it reads fine either way.

Corynn Dances