Matthew Perry Foundation Established to Help Addicts After Actor’s Death
By Movieguide® Contributor
Matthew Perry always wanted to be remembered for his work helping people overcome addiction, and that legacy will now be realized as the Matthew Perry Foundation is established in his honor.
“When I die, I don’t want FRIENDS to be the first thing that’s mentioned – I want helping others to be the first thing that’s mentioned. And I’m going to live the rest of my life proving that,” Perry previously said, sharing his heart for those with substance addictions. “Addiction is far too powerful for anyone to defeat alone. But together, one day at a time, we can beat it down.”
Movieguide® reported:
FRIENDS star Matthew Perry died on Saturday, October 28, 2023. He was 54.
In the past, the actor opened up about how God helped him overcome his struggle with addiction…
The actor finally found sobriety after asking God for help.
“‘God, please help me,’ I whispered. ‘Show me that you are here. God, please help me,’” he wrote in his memoir. “I started to cry. I mean, I really started to cry – that shoulder-shaking kind of uncontrollable weeping. I wasn’t crying because I was sad. I was crying because, for the first time in my life, I felt OK.”
Perry continued, “I felt safe, taken care of. Decades of struggling with God, and wrestling with life, and sadness, all was being washed away, like a river of pain gone into oblivion.”
While Perry unfortunately passed away before this dream could be fully realized, he had already committed many of his recent years to helping others overcome addiction. In 2013, Perry turned his Malibu beach house into a recovery house for addicts. Ending the effort two years later due to unsustainability, he had since been looking to create a long-term version of that recovery house.
“I’ve helped 100,000 people in a weekend, but I’ve also helped one guy. And it’s the same amount of juice that I get from it,” Perry previously told PEOPLE. “It doesn’t matter when you see the lights go on in somebody’s eyes who’s been hammered or on drugs for 10 years. That’s what makes your heart grow. And that’s a wonderful thing.”
“The interesting reason that I can be so helpful to people now is that I screwed up so often,” he continued. “It’s nice for people to see that somebody who once struggled in their life is not struggling any more.”
Now, Perry’s friends and family have turned his dream into a reality, establishing the Matthew Perry Foundation to help those struggling with substance abuse.
“In the spirit of Matthew Perry’s enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction, we embark on a journey to honor his legacy by establishing the Matthew Perry Foundation, guided by his own words and experiences and driven by his passion for making a difference in as many lives a possible,” reads a statement announcing the foundation’s establishment.
The foundation was established in partnership with the National Philanthropic Trust, a public charity that helps organizations run philanthropic programs.
Movieguide® previously reported:
While most people will remember Matthew Perry for his role on FRIENDS, his best work came from his passion for helping people overcome addiction.
Movieguide® reported, “FRIENDS star Matthew Perry died on Saturday, October 28, 2023. He was 54.”
Throughout his life, Perry struggled with drugs and alcohol, a battle that he was very open about. Even while he struggled to stay sober, he began to help other addicts.
In 2013, Perry turned his Malibu house into a men’s sober living facility, which he operated for two years before closing it to find a more sustainable location.
“That was a Malibu beach house, and it was too expensive to run, and the business didn’t really work,” Perry told the Hollywood Reporter in 2015. “So we’re looking at smaller places in Santa Monica and Studio City. I’m keeping the business going because I like it; it’s a good way to help alcoholics.”
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