DAThouse is on a mission to engage the Bates-Hendricks community of Indianapolis. Founded in 2007, the non-profit organization is doing that by finding solutions to the needs of the community, and offering them in innovative ways.
The Lincoln Center
Located on the corner of East Street and Lincoln Street, the Lincoln Center serves as the headquarters of DAThouse. What was once the site of an old strip club has been transformed into a place for community gatherings and events. Inside the Lincoln Center, visitors find a warm and welcoming place to meet up with neighbors, grab a cup of coffee, play pool, read a book, do laundry, and just gather in a central place in the community.
Lincoln Lane Coffee Co. 
The coffee shop that’s located inside the Lincoln Center is open to everyone — you don’t need to live in the neighborhood to visit. Lincoln Lane Coffee Co. sells drip coffee roasted by Indianapolis’ own Calvin Fletcher Coffee Company and Tinker Coffee Company, and offers pastries and baked goods by local Scholars Inn Bakehouse. Lincoln Lane also crafts their own syrups that they use to make custom coffee drinks. One of the great things about this coffee shop is that you can get a cup of black coffee for $1!
DATLaundry and The Loft Coworking Space
In the Lincoln Center, visitors will also find a three washer, four dryer laundry facility. And upstairs, The Loft Coworking Space offers a quiet place to work. The Loft operates on a membership basis, and comes with perks like free printing and a discount at the coffee shop downstairs.
DATKids
From the beginning, working with kids has been a central goal of DAThouse. The DATKids program began when neighborhood kids would show up outside of DAThouse. Volunteers would help the children with homework, play with them and feed them. Over time, a more structured after-school program emerged, and eventually became what DATKids is today.
Now, DATKids partners with the neighborhood school, James A. Garfield IPS #31, to provide after-school care for students in grades K-6. The program is free to all families and focuses on teaching life skills to students through mentoring, sports and the arts. The program is available when school is in session. During the summer, DATKids has a summer program for students in kindergarten through 4th grade, which runs two days a week.
DATKids Academy was created in fall 2020 as a response to the school challenges that came with COVID-19. The program assists parents who want to homeschool their children but don’t know where to start. Created to be an independent homeschool co-op, the DATKids Academy is held mostly outdoors for students in grades K-3.
For more information about DAThouse, visit dathouse.org
