Melon 29:7 equips returning citizens and immigrants in Southeast Michigan with the financial confidence, business readiness, and long-term asset pathways to participate fully in the economic life of their communities.
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Melon 29:7 partners with organizations and individuals who believe economic inclusion is not charity — it's strategy. Your support directly funds trauma-informed financial coaching, business technical assistance, and digital readiness training for entrepreneurs who've been locked out of mainstream support. Walk alongside us.
Partner With UsIf you've been through reentry, or if you're building a business in a financial system that wasn't designed for you — Melon 29:7 is where you start. We address what's actually in the way before we hand you a business plan template. Free services. Real support. Open door.
Sign Up for Free ServicesMelon 29:7 SE Michigan was founded by Odell Palacio — immigrant from Panama, raised by a single mother, and someone for whom financial exclusion has never been abstract. It has been a household reality. The work of Melon 29:7 is not charity delivered from a place of arrival. It is accompaniment offered from a place of shared journey.
Odell brings nearly three decades across banking, real estate, and community economic development — including foreclosure and redemption period transactions and a decade at Jewish Family Services (JFS) of Washtenaw County (JFS) of Washtenaw County, where he provided one-on-one business coaching, facilitated financial readiness workshops, and helped bring DTE Energy to the table as a program partner.
Melon 29:7 is not a new experiment. It is the formalization of a model already tested in practice — built specifically to serve the two populations most excluded from mainstream entrepreneurship support: returning citizens navigating reentry, and immigrants building livelihoods in a financial system not designed for them.
Standard entrepreneurship programs deliver curriculum. Melon 29:7 delivers transformation — stabilizing people first so that coaching can actually land.
Before opening a business plan template, we assess what is substituting itself for forward motion. Structured workshops address the beliefs and experiences shaping financial behavior — healing first, building second.
Group workshops and one-on-one coaching in business planning, pricing, operations, licensing, and marketing — adapted to each entrepreneur's stage and situation. Real support, not a one-size curriculum.
Participants complete training through our digital readiness partner's nationally recognized platform — building competency in the tools required to operate a business in today's market environment. Free to participants.
Most entrepreneurship programs assume people are ready to learn. Melon 29:7 starts by asking: what is substituting itself for forward motion? A utility shutoff. A reentry banking barrier. Food insecurity. Unprocessed financial shame. Where food is a crisis, we connect participants to the right specialists — Melon 29:7 stays in its lane, so each crisis gets the focused response it deserves. Until that crisis is addressed, no business plan template will help.
This framework — developed through decades of direct practice — produces more durable behavior change than financial literacy delivered in isolation. We address the substituting crisis first. Then we build.
Get StartedEvery participant begins with a baseline assessment to identify what is blocking forward motion — before any business curriculum is delivered.
Direct, individualized technical assistance — adapted to each entrepreneur's specific situation, stage, and goals. We meet people where they are.
Nationally recognized digital readiness platform — free for participants. Builds the competencies required to operate in today's market.
Entrepreneurship is not linear. Melon 29:7 welcomes alumni back when new challenges arise. Graduated clients may continue with services through a modest fee structure — sustaining the program while deepening the relationship.
The Founder is part of the work, not apart from it. We walk alongside — not above.
Financial behavior cannot be changed without first understanding the experiences that shaped it.
Address the crisis substituting itself for forward motion before expecting forward motion.
Melon 29:7 is designed to sustain itself through earned revenue and contracts, not grants alone.
We are rooted in Southeast Michigan. Our success is measured by what this community becomes.
Don't take our word for it — hear from the small business owners we've had the honor of working alongside.
I had a great experience with Enlace SE Michigan. They truly support small businesses and make a real difference in the community.
Working with this team has been an amazing experience! They truly do care about giving back to others. Just like they helped me, I know they'll also take care of you. Give them a chance, you won't regret it!
Working with Mr. Odell Palacio has been phenomenal. He has given me direction and resources to help my business grow as well as tips for establishing professional development.
Every contribution goes directly to program delivery for entrepreneurs who've been locked out of mainstream support. Choose the path that fits you.
Your gift directly funds trauma-informed financial coaching, business technical assistance, and digital readiness training — for the entrepreneurs most systems overlook. Tax-deductible. All amounts welcome.
Corporate partnerships fund program infrastructure, cohort delivery, and long-term capacity. Partners receive visibility, community trust, and the satisfaction of directly expanding economic inclusion in Southeast Michigan. Inquiries via check or formal agreement — let's talk.