Quilceda Community Services is turning 50, and the Marysville nonprofit is marking the milestone with a disco-and-ballroom-themed gala at Angel of the Winds Casino Resort in Arlington on November 14. Dubbed Diamonds in the Fall: An Adult Prom for a Purpose, the event runs from 4 to 9 p.m. and combines dinner, dancing, a live auction, and a dessert dash with a formal push to raise money for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the region.
The gala announcement, posted by The Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce on Facebook, frames the night as both a celebration of QCS's history and a fundraiser tied directly to its mission of expanding housing opportunities, promoting independence, and building community inclusion. Guests are encouraged to dress in cocktail or formal attire, with prom glam encouraged, for a night organizers describe as an adult prom disco with ballroom-inspired fun in honor of the organization's 50th anniversary, spanning 1976 to 2026.
Five Decades of Filling Care Gaps in Snohomish County
Quilceda Community Services launched its residential care program in Marysville in 1979, a few years after incorporating, and has since expanded into neighborhood-based supported living facilities offering up to 24/7 personalized care, according to the organization's own history. Today the nonprofit operates on a roughly $5 million annual budget with a staff of 100, overseeing government contracts, residential supported living, affordable housing, and day respite programs under Executive Director Connie Smith, per the Rotary Club of Marysville.
Much of that budget goes toward round-the-clock care: organizational tax filings reviewed by GuideStar show QCS's residential supported living program requires more than $4.4 million in annual operating expenses, dwarfing the roughly $255,000 it costs to run Willow Place, the nonprofit's day recreation center at 9610 48th Dr NE in Marysville. Willow Place runs Monday through Friday and offers structured art, fitness, and music activities designed to counteract social isolation among disabled adults, a mission that also includes helping young adults transition into adult day programs after they age out of special education at 21, as detailed by the Lynnwood Times.
Why Fundraisers Like This Matter
That gap between residential funding and day-program funding underscores why events like Diamonds in the Fall carry weight beyond a single night of dancing. Washington's Developmental Disabilities Administration relies on database waitlists for non-entitlement Home and Community Based Waiver services, meaning access depends on legislative appropriations and assessed client risk levels, according to Snohomish County. That structure leaves nonprofits such as QCS to lean on community fundraising to cover needs the state waiver system doesn't reach.
The nonprofit has also been building out its technological offerings. In 2025, QCS received a $250,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services' Dan Thompson Memorial Account to launch a Mobile Innovation Lab, bringing adaptive equipment and smart technology to clients across Snohomish, Island, and Skagit counties. QCS additionally maintains Marysville Quilceda Meadows, a HUD Section 811 property offering income-qualified subsidized studio and two-bedroom bungalow apartments built for adults with developmental disabilities, with rent capped at 30% of a resident's adjusted monthly income under federal rules.
Health and Wellness Woven Into Daily Programming
Beyond housing and technology, QCS integrates physical activity into its regular programming — weekly walking, bowling, dancing, and adaptive biking — to combat elevated risks of depression and obesity among adults with developmental disabilities. Those recreational offerings, largely run through Willow Place, depend heavily on the kind of flexible revenue that a gala can provide, since the day program's budget is a fraction of the residential side's.
Getting Tickets to Diamonds in the Fall
Early bird tickets are priced at $35 through September 30, after which the price rises to $50 starting October 1. The event will be held at Angel of the Winds Casino Resort, 3438 Stoluckquamish Lane in Arlington — a venue owned and operated by the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians that opened in 2004 on tribal trust land and has since expanded to include a 125-room hotel and a 750-seat event center, according to the Washington State Gambling Commission. QCS is also seeking silent auction items, monetary contributions, and Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald level sponsors ahead of the anniversary event.
