The Matthew Perry Foundation has announced a new official partnership with Healing Appalachia, the nation’s largest recovery-based music festival set to take place on Sept. 19–20 in Ashland, KY.
The organization will provide housing and amenities for more than 400 volunteers camping on-site, alongside 500 additional day volunteers drawn from recovery facilities across Appalachia. The partnership will extend beyond the festival, with MPF and Hope in the Hills set to launch philanthropic initiatives that will expand the reach and accessibility of grassroots recovery programs nationwide.
“We believe magic blossoms when we are all welcomed at the table together to foster recovery as a community,” says Dave Lavender, board president of Hope in the Hills. “As Matthew Perry said, ‘Addiction is too powerful for anyone to defeat alone. But together, and one day at a time, we can beat it down.’ Which is why at Healing Appalachia, we will come together and one day at a time work to be our best selves and help our brothers and sisters beat down addiction and celebrate recovery.”’
“The Matthew Perry Foundation exists to ensure that no one is denied care or healing because of stigma,” says Doug Chapin, Board President of MPF and Lisa Kasteler-Calio, Executive Director of MPF. “By supporting grassroots organizations like Healing Appalachia, we are standing with the recovery community, lifting up the work being done every day, and helping create a future where compassion leads the way.”
This year’s festival lineup will include Tyler Childers and Chris Stapleton as headliners, with additional performances from Molly Tuttle, Remi Wolf, Lukas Nelson, Blackberry Smoke, American Aquarium, The Infamous Stringdusters, Cole Chaney, Jesse Welles, Jonas Conner, Hill Country Devil, Corduroy Brown and The Montvales, Brad Goodall, Conrad Moore, Andy Frasco, Jeremy Short and more.
The Matthew Perry Foundation was founded to honor the “Friends” star’s legacy and unwavering commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction. The foundation invests in programs that center dignity, compassion, and community and conversations around the disease of substance use disorder.