It’s been two years since Matthew Perry’s sudden death, but his sister Caitlin Morrison still hears his voice in her daily life. “I feel for him a lot, and I can hear what he would say about what’s going on as if he were actually here saying it. Maybe he is. I don’t know. Who knows? Ghosts might be real,” she said with a laugh, then made a Chandler Bing-esque joke. “Let’s make pottery together.”
Days after the Friends icon died at age 54 from a ketamine overdose, Morrison turned his grief into purpose and founded the Matthew Perry House in his hometown of Ottawa. The nonprofit’s mission is to reduce the social and economic impact of addiction by funding new research and providing post-treatment support to people living with substance use disorders.
“I have spent my career working in nonprofits and charities,” she explains. “After he passed away, it was only natural for my mind to try to use whatever methods I knew to bring some meaning and purpose to this horrible, horrible event that should never have happened.”
The group is building its first facility in Ottawa and plans to replicate its blueprint in cities across Canada. The first will be connected to a larger community center where non-inpatients will have access to health care, mental health care, career counseling, financial planning management, and family therapy services to help rebuild relationships strained by addiction.
During his close examination of drug abuse research, Morrison came to important conclusions about the phenomenon of relapse. “Everyone was saying, ‘You’ll get help for a month, but if you’re lucky you’ll get help for three to six months.'” That’s great, but it’s not enough, she explains. “The brain will take longer to heal.”
She points to the striking statistic that 85% of people relapse within a year of treatment. But after three years, that number reverses and 85% maintain lifelong recovery.
That insight shaped the Matthew Perry House model. “No one will tell you to walk out the door until you feel you have everything you need,” she says. “The average length of stay is about three years.” The Ottawa center includes health care, career counseling, trauma therapy, art and music programs, and family counseling. “It’s like, let’s make every part of our lives as great as humanly possible.”
The group’s activities are separate but complementary to the Matthew Perry Foundation. The Matthew Perry Foundation is a Los Angeles-based organization led by the actor’s publicist, Lisa Casteller. In September, the Matthew Perry Foundation held an addiction and recovery summit at CAA titled “Breaking Barriers and Building Pathways to Change.”
Morrison said that while her brother’s foundation in the United States continues to do important long-term work, “we’re building something that can help people immediately, and I think we’re going to change the face of what treatment looks like for everyone.”
In doing so, she pitched to the entertainment community that became Perry’s surrogate family after he first found success as a teenager. “To anyone in Hollywood who might be listening, if this is an area that interests you, Matthew Perry House is the place to support you. I’m not actually being paid, so I think it’s ethical to say that.”
As October 28 approaches again this year, Mr Morrison has sought to strike a balance between reflection and progress. “It’s always a bit of a dark day,” she says. “But maybe that’s not true, because on his birthday this year, I realized that the day is much better than usual. Days like October 28th aren’t actually hard. They’re allowed to be really hard. They’re allowed to cry in public in embarrassing ways.”
Her sense of humor, like her brother’s, is never far behind. “The funny defense mechanism answer is that he ruined Halloween for me, so thank you,” she says jokingly. “The serious answer is…it’s been a bit of a dark day.”
