When Morgan Champion brought her 74-year-old father home to live with her, she had little time to prepare. It was early May when she and her sister had found him emaciated and sitting in a soiled diaper at his memory care facility in Tallahassee, Florida, after the pandemic lockdown finally lifted.

“We really felt like dad was in danger,” Champion said. The family needed to get him out as quickly as possible.

They installed a railing on the stairs of Champion’s Tallahassee home and secured the back gate to ensure that Jim, who has Alzheimer’s, wouldn’t wander away. Champion, who works for an education company, now dresses and bathes him every morning; she’s had to step out of remote meetings to change him.

Her husband manages his medication and watches him during the day, while also caring for their 2-year-old daughter. They try to keep Jim from eating things that are unsafe, like the dirt outside in the yard, where he likes to walk.

“I want him to have the dignity of being taken care of well,” Champion, 34, said. “It’s definitely been a struggle.”