Copyright Variety
Two years after Matthew Perry’s sudden death, his sister Caitlin Morrison still hears his voice as she goes about her daily life. “I feel him around a lot and I can hear the things that he would say in response to the things that are going on as if he’s actually here saying them. Maybe he is. I don’t know. Who knows? Maybe ghosts are real,” she says with a laugh and then offers up a Chandler Bing-esque quip. “We’ll make some pottery together.” In the days after the “Friends” icon died from an accidental ketamine overdose at the age of 54, Morrison channeled her grief into purpose, founding the Matthew Perry House in his hometown Ottawa. The nonprofit’s mission is to lessen the social and economic impact of addiction by funding emerging research and providing post-treatment support to people living with substance use disorders. “I’ve had this whole career in nonprofits and charities,” she explains. “It was a very natural thing for my mind to do after he died — to try to work what I knew how to do into bringing some kind of meaning and purpose to this horrible, horrible thing that shouldn’t have happened.” The group is building the first facility in Ottawa and plans to replicate the blueprint in cities throughout Canada. The first one will be connected to a larger community center so that even people who are not in-patient will be able to access health care, mental health care, career counseling, financial planning management and family therapy services to help rebuild relationships frayed by addiction. As Morrison delved into substance abuse research, she reached a key conclusion about the relapse phenomenon. “Everybody said, ‘We can get help for a month. If we’re lucky, three to six months.’ And that’s wonderful, but it’s not enough,” she explains. “The brain takes more time than that to heal.” She points to a telling statistic: 85% of people relapse within a year of treatment. But after three years, that number flips, and 85% will maintain their recovery for the rest of their lives. That insight shaped the Matthew Perry House model. “Nobody is ever asked to walk out the door until they feel they have everything they need,” she says. “The average stay will be about three years.” The Ottawa center will include health care, career counseling, trauma therapy, art and music programs, and family counseling. “It’s like, let’s make every piece of your life as wonderful as humanly possible.” The group’s work is separate but complements the Matthew Perry Foundation, an L.A.-based organization spearheaded by the actor’s publicist, Lisa Kasteller. In September, the Matthew Perry Foundation held a summit on addiction and recovery titled “Breaking Barriers & Building Pathways for Change” at CAA. Morrison says her brother’s foundation in the U.S. continues to do important long-term work, but “we’re building something that’s going to help people immediately — and I think we’re going to change the face of what treatment looks like for everyone.” With that, she makes her pitch to the entertainment community that became Perry’s surrogate family after he enjoyed his first successes as a teen: “To any Hollywood people who might be listening: if this is an area of interest for you, the Matthew Perry House is the place to support. I feel like I can ethically say that because I don’t actually get paid.” As Oct. 28 approached this year, Morrison tried to balance reflection with progress. “It’s just always going to be a day with a little bit of darkness on it,” she says. “But maybe that’s wrong — because on his birthday this year, I realized I was actually more OK that day than usual. Those days like October 28th don’t actually make it harder. They’re the days where it’s allowed to be really hard. They’re permission to cry publicly in an embarrassing way.” Her humor, like her brother’s, is never far away. “The defensive mechanism funny answer is he ruined Halloween for me, so thanks,” she quips. “The serious answer is… it’s just a day with a little bit of a darkness on it.”
