The crazy days of history’s club Studio 54 were “Staying Alive” once again as disco balls glittered and flashed to the beats of the Village People and Bee Gees.

The Meanwhile Block in South Downtown was shimmering for a good cause Nov. 15 as the We Fortify tiny-house village program for housing-insecure young adults held its third Gala Not Gala fundraiser.

It was for fun and for thanking 243 supporters for “believing in the Power of WE,” as “we together provide care, housing and stability” for the residents, said founder and CEO Shelley Jensen.

She shared that their team partners with the residents “working to make purposeful lives” with life skills and employment, and half of the 52 residents have earned degrees including GED and above. Residents check in every week and, she said, “they are accountable. They have a community behind them.”

An unusual and welcome new collaboration was born as We Fortify staff had made final plans for their Gala, Not Gala. As the event took shape, “the withdrawal of funding for SNAP benefits and its impact on our residents and neighbors was heavy on my heart,” said Jensen. “I knew how much it would be affecting our valiant partners at Care and Share Food Bank. We had to do something to help.”

The young people We Fortify serves along with 1,600 others in the Mill Street neighborhood are served by Care and Share’s mobile pantry.

It was immediately decided that 25% of the gala’s ticket and live auction proceeds would go to the food bank. Care and Share President and CEO Nate Springer said this type of fundraising collaboration touched his team because it’s “just not normal, but housing and food together we can assure every family in Colorado Springs has what they need.”

During the “Saturday Night Fever” evening, $102,000 was raised, including donations, with $12,000 going to Care and Share. Emcee and evening DJ Brother Luck, who has made the We Fortify program a personal project, received major cheers as his auction donation of formal dinners for 12 went paddles up two times for $11,500 each.

A first-time award, the Warrior Changemaker Award, was presented to Weidner Homes for “the grit and fortitude of a partner,” said Jensen, citing the company as a collaborative partner and major contributor to We Fortify’s nonprofit land development and human services company building villages and programs that elevate young adults out of poverty.”