By Elizabeth Czapski | Staff Writer
When Park Millennium doorperson Reginald Turner was a boy, he was in foster care.
“I was a foster kid for a long time,” he said. “Coming from foster homes, it was a struggle.”
He grew up and out of the foster care system and, as an adult, found himself working alone at a desk all day, studying numbers. He was an accountant for 24 years before he was laid off.
From there he worked security. In 2010 Turner got a job as a doorperson at 2700 N. Hampden Court. By 2016, ready for a change, he started at Park Millennium. That’s also when he started really interacting with people.
“The people keep my energy up,” he said. “It’s just fun meeting different people every day.”
Turner works in the afternoon and evening. A normal day consists of getting packages—a lot of packages—and greeting people. He loves making residents smile when they come in for the day.
“It’s not really a job. It’s just like greeting your friend coming in every day through the door,” he said. “This is one of the best buildings I’ve been at.”
Turner said he loves when everyone comes home from work during rush hour and he likes hearing what’s new with the kids who live in the building.
He also enjoys working with his colleagues and said he learns something new from them every day. The most important is to “be friendly, be present [and] make sure you acknowledge everybody who comes through the door,” Turner said.
Emergency situations, he said, keep him on his toes. When someone got stuck in an elevator, he had to call the fire department— a new experience for him.
Besides being a doorman, Turner is an artist and a musician. He said he has a talent for drawing, and he’s been learning the guitar for about five years.
But he really, really likes his job.
“I never really had a family so, you know, I make the people part of my family,” Turner said. “So that’s why I enjoy this building.”
Send nominations for Doorperson of the month to info@neweastsidecommunity.com
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