Over her 33-year career at the El Paso County Department of Human Services, Karen Logan’s frequent goal has been to keep the doors open and the phones answered, no matter the circumstances.

During the Waldo Canyon fire, that meant relocating the county’s child-protective services overnight after the fire forced an evacuation. As manager, part of Logan’s job was to keep the hotline operational.

“We still had to make sure kids were safe,” she said.

Logan is retiring this month, while programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid are undergoing changes.

Logan has held many of the human services positions El Paso County employs since the Colorado Springs native started in the department as an income maintenance technician in 1992. She took college courses on her

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