Cheesecake for a Cause
For months, Bolin had been trying to find a building to establish a fourth ATC thrift store in the Cape Girardeau, Missouri, region to help offset the cost of the new, soon-to-be-opened Deborah’s House — an ATC Mid-America-acquired facility being refitted to house and help 25 to 30 women with life-controlling addictions. But the harder he searched and the more he prayed, it seemed the harder the doors were closed.
And then one of his ATC board members made a ridiculous suggestion to Bolin while they were enjoying a meal at My Daddy’s Cheesecake bakery and café.
“He says to me, ‘I heard this restaurant is going up for sale. What if we bought it and used it as an income stream instead of a thrift store?’”
If the incredulous look on Bolin’s face didn’t fully communicate his opinion to such a thought, the half-choked laugh completed the journey.
“I dismissed the thought almost immediately,” Bolin admits. “I don’t even like cheesecake!”
Back in his car, Bolin continued to muse . . . a cheesecake restaurant, of all things! Ha!
And that’s when the Holy Spirit stepped into Bolin’s conversation.
A 180
“‘What are you doing? ’ That’s the question that suddenly popped into my mind,” Bolin says. “And then it was like the Holy Spirit began grilling me. He had closed all these doors to what I wanted to do — time after time, closing one door after the other for another thrift shop — and now He opens a new door and I do what? Close it?”
Bolin picked up his phone and called his board member — “set me up an appointment with the owner.”
As Bolin began to consider the possibility of running a restaurant, he started to realize the opportunities the restaurant presented to the women Deborah’s House would soon be helping.
“A lot of the women we will help are unskilled and often don’t have much vocational experience,” Bolin says. “But with the restaurant, as we help these women deal with their addictions, we will also be able to provide them with training — giving them experiences in areas that will help them find employment once they graduate from the program.”
CHEESECAKE FOR A CAUSE
Following the phone call to the board member, everything fell relatively quickly into place and on Jan. 2, ATC Mid-America became owner of My Daddy’s Cheesecake — though, as a café, it also serves a selection of breakfast and lunch items and seasonal treats along with a variety of rotating cheesecake flavors.
“We’ve kept a lot of the same employees, the menu has stayed the same, and the restaurant’s name remains the same,” Bolin says. “However, the Lord laid a tagline on my heart — Cheesecake for a Cause.”
Bolin says that people love the idea that when they purchase a meal or indulge in a tasty treat, 100% of the proceeds go to Deborah’s House to help rehabilitate young women.
“Deborah’s House will open by June 1 of this year,” Bolin says. “The women won’t start working at the restaurant until after they’ve been in the program for four months and have demonstrated good progress in their recovery. Then, we will begin to rotate in the women desiring to work there — training them in the restaurant business.”
DEBORAH’S HOUSE
The Mid-America men’s Adult and Teen Challenge campus has been in Cape Girardeau for the past 57 years, sitting on a sprawling 375-acre property and typically working to help 80 to 100 men overcome their addictions. Bolin has been serving the program for nearly 16 years.
The new women’s campus, Deborah’s House, sits on a more modest 10 acres, but comes with a bit of history of its own.
“Deborah’s House is an old winery,” Bolin says, noting the irony. “But, as I explain to people, we’re going to use this beautiful facility to produce a new ‘wine’ — women with new lives anchored in Christ.”
Bolin says that facility also had a restaurant, was used as a wedding venue, and came with a barn — which has proven to be a unique and unexpected blessing.
“God has worked things out so that we’ll be able to offer equine therapy for the girls,” Bolin says. “Often women come into a program traumatized and have trust issues, but equine therapy is a proven and highly successful method for breaking down barriers.”
In addition, when a local beauty supplier heard Mid-America was putting in a women’s center, they contacted Bolin and offered that if the center supplied the space, they would provide all the equipment and supplies needed for a beauty salon for the women.
On top of that, the local cosmetology school agreed to come out and do the women’s hair at no charge!
“It’s amazing what happens when you trust in God and be obedient,” Bolin says. “It just blows my mind. We’ve had so many people come forward wanting to volunteer, to donate — we’re just so blessed with such a wonderful, supportive community and loyal donors.”
COMING SOON
In only a few months, women from across the country will begin calling Deborah’s House home, with most, if not all, having no idea that God could use slices of delicious cheesecake to help turn their lives around.
“On each café table we will be placing a statement that will let guests know that when they enjoy a treat from My Daddy’s Cheesecake, they’re not just satisfying a craving, but supporting Deborah’s Home and helping to change lives,” Bolin says. “We’re mission-focused, and our mission is for women to find hope by pointing them to the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is our hope — without Him, there is none.”
And although leading an ATC center is filled with challenges and requires more than a little faith, Bolin says this ministry is by far the one he most enjoys.
“God gave me a great privilege,” he says. “I get to see miracles and lives changed every day. I see answers to prayer as families are restored and addicts are delivered and living for Christ — it’s just amazing!”
And oh, by the way, Bolin says that along with the ooey-gooey butter bars, two of the more popular cheesecakes at the restaurant are the Berry Swirl and the Forbidden Fudge cheesecakes . . . and My Daddy’s Cheesecake ships nationwide.
LOWER IMAGES: Image #1: James Bolin; Image #2: Deborah's House campus