Living in Weinland Park is challenging, but Robert Caldwell takes pleasure in thrusting himself into new environments.

Caldwell, a professional social worker of about 20 years, said he believes in incarnational social work. As part of his philosophy for helping people overcome difficulties, he tries to go into their environment to understand their problems.

This philosophy led Caldwell, his wife and children, to move to the Weinland Park area about four years ago.

Weinland Park, located between downtown Columbus and Ohio State, is infamous for drug activity, violence, gangs and property crimes. The violent crime rate for the area is 14.2 percent higher than that for the city as a whole.

In the neighborhood, the buildings are deteriorating, merchants have left and there has been a dramatic decline in the quality of life.

The largest number of Section 8 federally-subsidized houses in Columbus are located in Weinland Park, and no more than 11 percent of people in Weinland Park actually own their homes.

Weinland Park is not the first place Caldwell has used his incarnational philosophy. For more than 10 years, Caldwell ran community centers and churches on the east side of Columbus.

“We were really able to make differences in the community that had a more notorious reputation this one,” Caldwell said.

He is working to reproduce those successes in Weinland Park.

However, without the support of his wife, Michelle Caldwell, his incarnational philosophy might have ended up being just a theory; she helped him plan and prepare a missionary.

Both Caldwells have followed similar career paths, fueled by their desire to help others. Both were raised by single mothers in the working-class families. The two also both decided to get involved in urban social work. The couple met each other through a social organization and have been colleagues, friends and spouses.

Although a lot of people thought they were crazy to bring their children to an area where gunshots are a part of everyday life, Michelle Caldwell said that she thought about the issue but was not concerned.

“We are supposed to be here,” she said. “So regardless of other issues, they were not as important as for us to be down here.”

Above all things, their faith has endured in their transition to the neighborhood.

“We believe that God came down here to make an investment in our lives and in this neighborhood,” Caldwell said.

This month marks the fourth year that the Caldwell family has lived in Weinland Park, and they are no longer strangers, but rather active members in the community.

Based on their experience as professional social workers, the Caldwells have started different organizations to help the community. In an effort to improve community development, housing and employment, they founded the Faith-Based Partnership Initiative. It is an effort to support the establishment of collaborative partnerships among churches, community and civic organizations, and businesses.

Unlike organizations that move in and out quickly, they wanted to prove they were commited to the neighborhood and its families.

“We are here to create real opportunities,” Caldwell said. “We are here for real.”

Nikki Stradford, the Caldwells’ neighbor, has known the family since they helped her move in three years ago. She said Robert Caldwell is always there whenever she needs help.

“They are a wonderful family,” said Margaret Foster, a next-door neighbor. “They are nice people.”

Foster, who has been a friend of the Cladwell family for four years, described the family as unique. The family is characterized by wanting to do things in the home – they home school their children, and Michelle Caldwell even gave birth to her 9-month-old daughter, Charis, at home.

Their children, Caleb, Gabriel and Gabriella, and some neighbors observed Charis’s entrance into the world. Their nine-year-old son, Caleb, cut Charis’ umbilical cord.

“It was an amazing experience,” Michelle Caldwell said. “Everybody was part of it.”

However, the family’s experience in the neighborhood has not always been easy. Caldwell often worries about how the environment of Weinland Park affects the area children.

During their first summer in Weinland Park, the family helped a man who had been shot. Caldwell took him to his house, called the police and tried to stop the bleeding. His daughter witnessed everything.

Caldwell said worried about whether the incident would traumatize his own children, but even though they didn’t know the man’s name, his children prayed for him.

Another example of their struggle is when one of organizations the family was associated with decided not to be supportive anymore, and a lot of people affiliated with it also stopped supporting the Caldwells.

“For about a year, we were pretty discouraged,” Caldwell said, “but we hung in there. We found other people to be supportive and found other organizations to partner with us.”

With patience and persistence, the Caldwells hope to continue working to improve the neighborhood.