5 Vying for $30K to Fund Their Idea from Detroit Harmonie

DETROIT (WJBK) -- Let's face it. Detroit has a rich past, but a lot of it is black and white. Detroit Harmonie is all about Detroit's next chapter and that's diversity. They're rewarding organizations that are making a difference in the city and bringing communities together.

"No one has brought together the doers in one kind of place on one evening. The ones that are kind of under the radar that should be noticed, that should be funded," said Jordan Wolfe.

That's exactly what Detroit Harmonie's Get Funded Challenge is all about. Five finalists are showing us how small businesses and great ideas can have a huge impact.

"Summer in the City is a community service organization for volunteers of high school age and older, and we come down from the suburbs, from the city, to do all sorts of different projects that are fun and energy filled for high schoolers to do," said Will McDowell.

"There's a lot of literature and a lot of people talking about how there's no access to quality, healthy foods in Detroit," said Noam Kimelman with Fresh Corner Cafe. "You don't have a lot of grocery stores, but you have a ton of corner stores and gas stations. Why avoid these corner stores. Why not leverage these corner stores and transform them into points of fresh food access."

"En Guarde Detroit is a group of passionate individuals. Reach out to kids and help them develop themselves in a different area than basketball and football, and then we also want to make some economic impact to the city using the sport [of fencing]," said Bobby Smith.

"Detroit Soup is a monthly dinner funding creative projects in the city," said Amy Kaherl. "People come and they spend $5. They get soup, salad, bread, pie and a vote," said Amy Kaherl.

"Pony Ride is an incubation space for social entrepreneurs and kind of arts and crafts people that are interested in being engaged in the community," said Phil Cooley.

These finalists are competing for some serious cash. The grand prize is $30,000.

Wolfe is the founder of Detroit Harmonie. He and board member Marlowe Stoudamire say Detroit Harmonie's mission is to turn Detroit into a place where everyone plays a part and our differences are treated as assets, not barriers.

"Black or white, west or east, it doesn't really matter now. We have to come up with effective plans that are impactful to help our kids, help our quality of life and attract business and jobs, and we cannot do that being divided," Stoudamire said.

You can help decide who gets funded by voting online for the People's Choice Award. Bottom line, each of these entrepreneurs prove business and service go hand in hand and together they're redefining Detroit.

For more information on Detroit Harmonie, visit www.detroitharmonie.com.