Tasty ministry’s 3rd location
New location is third for ministry-centric business
City Hall Cheesecake, which helps unhoused people, opens location in Southaven.
City Hall Cheesecake is more than just a bakery, it’s a ministry.
Kim and Vance Daly bought the original City Hall Cheesecake in Hernando two years ago and have used the bakery to support the homeless ministry they run, Love Works 25:40.
On Thursday, the couple opened the third location of the bakery in Silo Square in Southaven.
The bakery, known for both its sweets and for being a gathering spot for the community, has the original location in Hernando plus one that opened in Oxford last year.
“We hope that people come in first for the cheesecake but come back for the kindness,” Kim Daly said.
The menu
There are more than 100 flavors of cheesecake on the menu. Available by the slice or as a cupcake, the cheesecake flavors rotate daily, with more than a dozen available each day.
Birthday cake, banana pudding, Snickers, cookies and cream, banana split, Reese’s Pieces, Kentucky Bourbon and White Chocolate Raspberry were just a few of the flavors available on opening day.
The bakery also is known for its iced sugar cookies and “Doozies,” two freshly baked cookies with a generous layer of buttercream in the middle.
Kim Daly said they added “gourmet snow,” or what most would consider Italian ice, and soft serve ice cream to the menu at this new location. “The baseball park is just across the street,” she said.
The bakery
City Hall Cheesecake is one of the first businesses to open in Silo Square. Next door to the Magnolia House gift shop, it is on the Getwell corner of the new development.
The space is bright and cheery, with a hand-painted mural that states the bakery’s mission of “Choose Joy.”
The original City Hall Cheesecake in Hernando is in a 150-year-old blue house. Daly said she tried to incorporate some of that building’s “hominess” into the new space. Blue accents mimic the color scheme of the original, and inviting seating areas made with sofas and benches encourage guests to linger and visit. Outdoor patio seating is also offered.
The mission
The Dalys started their homeless ministry eight years ago. Over the course of a year, they work with program participants to transition them off the streets, into a job and eventually into a home.
One of the biggest obstacles they had was finding employment. “Secondchance jobs are hard to find in a small town,” Daly said. When City Hall Cheesecake was up for sale, the couple saw it as an opportunity to provide employment for those going through the program.
“Then the Lord blew it up,” said Daly of their growth over the past two years.
The Dalys run their business with the philosophy of kindness, joy, grace and mercy.
“It’s not our story, it’s the story of our employees,” said Daly as she explained how one employee who came to them straight out of rehab has blossomed into a leader for the company.
The Southaven bakery will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday.