Matthew Perry Planned to Launch a Foundation to Help Others Struggling with Substance Abuse Before His Death

Before his sudden death, Matthew Perry had hoped to continue helping people who suffered from addiction.

PEOPLE has learned that the late actor — who died Saturday at age 54 — planned to start a foundation to help people with addiction problems, a decade after he founded Perry House, a two-year sober living facility for men.

After Friends In the wake of the alum’s death, those close to Perry remain hopeful that he will be able to make his foundation in his honor a reality.

Matthew Perry attends the 2022 GQ Men Of The Year Party on November 17, 2022.

Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

Matthew Perry dead at 54 after apparent drowning

In a 2013 PEOPLE cover story, Perry opened up about abusing alcohol and Vicodin, which his doctor prescribed after a 1997 jet-skiing accident.

“I had a big problem with alcohol and pills and I couldn’t stop,” he said. “Eventually things got so bad that I couldn’t hide it, and then everyone knew.”

Then “something clicked” and he founded Perry House, a sober living facility for men that operated from 2013 to 2015 out of his old beach house in Malibu.

“The interesting reason I can be so useful to people now is that I screwed up so often,” he said. “It’s nice for people to see that someone who once struggled in life is no longer struggling.”

Matthew Perry spoke openly about his journey of sobriety in the year before his death

In 2015, Perry was recognized for his advocacy by the Phoenix House treatment center, speaking The Hollywood Reporter“You can’t have a drug problem for 30 years and then expect to solve it in 28 days.”

Before the release of his memoirs Friends, lovers and the big scary thing last year, Perry further detailed his own struggles and revealed that he nearly died at age 49 due to his increasing drug addiction. He said he spent two weeks in a coma fighting for his life, followed by a five-month hospital stay and a year using a colostomy bag after his colon ruptured from an opioid overdose.

When Perry was first admitted to the hospital, doctors told his family he only had a “2 percent chance of living.”

“I was put on a machine called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And it’s called a Hail Mary. Nobody survives that,” he recalled.

Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of “Ride” at ArcLight Hollywood on April 28, 2015.

Angela Weiss/Getty

Matthew Perry opens up about his addiction journey with new memoir: ‘I’m grateful to be alive’

Perry – who went to rehab 15 times over the years and spent a fortune trying to get sober – also recounted a terrifying time during his Friends when he took 55 Vicodin pills a day and dropped to just 128 pounds.

I didn’t know how to stop, he said. “If the police came to my house and said, ‘If you drink tonight, we’re going to take you to jail,’ I’d start packing. I couldn’t stop because the disease and addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you get older.”

The actor told PEOPLE that he decided to share his deeply personal experiences in his memoir to help others on a similar journey.

“I wanted to share when I was sure I wasn’t going to the dark side of everything again,” he said. “I had to wait until I was fairly sober—and far from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction—to write it all down. And the most important thing was that I was pretty sure it would help people.”

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Perry was found dead in his Los Angeles home over the weekend after an apparent drowning, TMZ first reported. Sources from the police force told the branch that no drugs were found and that there were no signs of foul play at the scene.

A Los Angeles police spokesman later told PEOPLE on Saturday that officers responded to a call at Matthew’s address regarding the death of a man in his 50s, though authorities would not confirm the identity of the deceased.

The actor’s family released a statement to PEOPLE on Sunday, saying, “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of our beloved son and brother. Matthew brought so much joy to the world, both as an actor and as a friend. You all meant so much to him and we appreciate the tremendous outpouring love.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the SAMHSA Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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Source: HIS Education