When a friend told Gregory Turner he looked like Popeye, it wasn’t because he was healthy. Heroin injections had distorted his arms until they looked like a cartoon character’s.
Two years ago Turner, now 42, had nothing left. His marriage was among the sacrifices to his habit. “My ex-wife and I are good friends,” Turner said. “I call her all the time, but she is still leery of me because I was the devil.” He said neither he nor his paycheck made it home much.
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He moved to Chicago in 1980 and started working with boys who “were one step away from the penitentiary” at Lawrence Hall Youth Services at 4833 N. Francisco. “I told them about the pitfalls of life,” he said. “But I wasn’t quite the expert I thought I was because I still had some holes to fall into.”
Turner maintains that the two keys to climbing out of homelessness or substance abuse are education and finding someone who will take a chance on you. He had a private school education before high school, and received his GED and training as a helicopter mechanic in the Marine Corps. He also took a few courses in pharmacy at Wayne State University in Detroit and in computer science at Truman College in Chicago. His hardworking parents told him to never say die.
“I try to show them it’s not so bad,” he says. He also helps them meet people who have been able to overcome their addictions.
A lot of the programs Inner Voice now offers were prompted by Turner’s memories. For example, he remembers being attracted to Inner Voice back when it was a daytime drop-in center on West Madison because “they had the best food.” So a big pot of chili or stew awaits those who come to the classes now.
In the little free time he has, Turner likes to read science fiction. “I consider science fiction a possible future,” he says. “Look at Jules Verne; anything you can conceive of could happen.”
