Six decades of building character and connecting community on Dayton’s West Side.
The mission of the Dakota Center is to provide a safe, positive atmosphere engaging Dayton West Side neighborhoods in programs to educate the whole person by developing character and connecting community.
The Center’s vision is to be a leading institution and collaborator within Inner-West Dayton, providing premier services and programming for youth and seniors.
The Dakota Center traces back to the vision of its founders, Philip C. Hoelle, S.M., and William Hoben, who set out to build a community where there is education for the whole person — mind, body, and spirit. Father Hoelle was a Marianist priest, and that founding spirit of educating the whole person still shapes the Center’s work today.
From a single social hall to a dedicated community center, the Dakota Center has grown with Dayton’s West Side for more than 60 years.
The Dakota Center is founded by Philip C. Hoelle, S.M., and William Hoben, opening in the old St. Emerick Social Hall on Dakota Street.
The original St. Emerick Social Hall is destroyed by fire. The Center continues its programs at 408 N. Conover Street, using the Holy Name Church facilities.
The Dakota Center moves to the MacFarlane neighborhood, operating out of a converted carriage house for nearly 25 years and becoming a local landmark.
Staff move their offices in October 2000, and the new Dakota Center is dedicated in May 2001 — the home the Center occupies today at 33 Barnett Street.
Now in its sixth decade, the Center serves more than 1,350 clients each year, each involved in two or more programs.
The Dakota Center is led by a dedicated board and staff drawn from the community it serves.
The Dakota Center is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 31-0731056), tax-exempt since 1968.
The next chapter of the Dakota Center is written by the volunteers, families, and supporters who show up for the West Side.
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