Ken Eichman, CARE St. Peter. Dept. of Human Services "I knew I could help."

I retired a year ago after 30 years in the chemical dependency counseling field, 26 of them with the State of Minnesota. My wife and I moved from St. Peter to the Northwoods in Gilbert after retiring and spent the summer as campground hosts. I was planning to let my chemical dependency license expire next month because I never thought I’d do that work again. Then I got a call from Dept. of Human Services HR asking if I might be interested in coming back to work because they needed the help. I started back at the CARE facility in St. Peter two weeks ago and I agreed to help through June 20. My wife’s health conditions make her vulnerable to COVID-19, so when I go back to Gilbert to visit her, I plan to stay in our camper to make sure she’s safe and we’re social distancing. It’s hard being away from my wife, but I knew I still had something to offer and could be of some assistance. I believe everything that’s meant to be will happen and i think some pretty great things will come from this too.