In 2022, my dad suffered a stroke, which made him lose almost all his mobility, leaving him unable to take care of himself. I moved home to New Jersey from South Carolina to come to his aid. For the past four years, I have been his sole caregiver while trying to balance work and going to college. I do all his cooking and household chores to live in a clean and healthy space. I distribute his medications and assist him with all his hygiene cleaning as he cannot do any of those things on his own.

He cannot be left alone for long periods of time and always needs supervision overnight. As the years have gone by, his health continues to decline. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with dementia. It has been a lot, not just mentally but physically. The level of care my dad needed four years ago is not what it is today. My attendance at work has been affected, I have no social life due to his dependency on me, and my schoolwork gets pushed to the back burner because he needs me.

As an only child, I have no siblings for support, and my father does not qualify for any government program. I am at a point of burnout and feel I am no longer able to provide the 24-hour care that he needs. I need help.

I am trying to raise funds to pay for the process of getting guardianship of my dad. This would allow me to place him in a care facility where he can receive the level of care that he needs from qualified caretakers. This process requires two medical doctors to sign and provide recommendations. I’ve acquired one signature through his primary care provider. The second signature requires me to get a private doctor to come to him, as he is now nearly bed-bound. Having a doctor come to the house is very expensive, but this is the only way to obtain guardianship at this point. In the last few months, I have spent all my savings on a lawyer who has been helping me through this process. The money raised will go directly to the cost of having the private doctor come to see my dad. I appreciate every single person who took the time to read my story and am forever grateful for your contributions to helping my dad and me.