Yvette Nicole Brown Details 'Guilt-Ridden Choice' to Place Dad with Alzheimer’s in Board & Care Home After 11 Years (Exclusive)

• Yvette Nicole Brown has been her father’s primary caregiver since he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 
• The actress has experienced every side of caregiving over the past 11 years and is hoping to “fight for every other family caregiver” to help ease their journeys
• She is now announcing exclusively with PEOPLE the launch of her new podcast, Squeezed, to shed light on the caregiving experience and to let others know they’re not alone

About 12 years ago, Yvette Nicole Brown noticed that phone calls with her father were seeming odd. He was “not quite there” anymore, she says.

The actress, now 53, had finished filming season 5 of Community and decided to move her dad from Ohio to California to live with her. Not long after, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer's — the most common form of dementia — is a degenerative brain disease that is caused by complex brain changes following cell damage. It progressively affects memory, thinking and behavior serious enough to interfere with daily tasks.

Brown says she dropped everything for her dad. Having mostly lived with her mother growing up after her parents divorced, she felt strongly about caring for her dad and spending time with him. However, it was bittersweet because of the circumstances.

“There was that moment of like, wow, I'm going to have my dad living with me for the first time, and it's when he's not capable of fully even experiencing this the way that I will be experiencing it,” she tells PEOPLE. “Dementia is weird in that at some point they sort of lose their sense of self and they no longer are the person that they used to be. So with my dad, there's some days where he's 100% there and there's some days where he's not.”

“But it was the easiest decision I made because in my mind, he taught me so much. How can I not step up and be there for him in his moment of need? My dad comes first,” Brown adds, noting that she even asked to be released from her contract for Community because she couldn’t manage 16-hour days on set while properly caring for him. 

As his primary caregiver, Brown says she’s been like his “cruise director” for more than a decade, making sure that he eats and that he’s clean and comfortable. It's important that “his day is going the way he wants," she explains.

“I have always put his needs above my own and I'm still putting his needs above my own because I want him with me. I need him with me,” she continues. “Putting him first is not a difficult decision for me at all.”

Still, she says, being a caregiver is hard — and recently it’s gotten harder. 

A few months ago, her father suffered a bad fall and broke his hip, which required surgery and intense rehabilitation. 

“He's now at a place where he can't be with me in the house anymore because he no longer walks,” Brown says, sharing that she moved her dad into a board and care facility. “So now it's shifted to me stepping into less of a daily caregiver role and more of just his daughter — I have not been able to be just his daughter in 11 years.” 

“Releasing him to the care of other people was a very difficult thing to do and a very heartbreaking guilt-ridden choice to make. But the goal was to get the best care for him and that’s no longer me,” she says, adding that she visits the assisted living facility several times a week to be by his side. 

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Brown says she’s experienced nearly every caregiving issue over the years and knows firsthand the challenges that can come with that responsibility.

The most eye-opening aspect of her journey has been navigating the healthcare system, she says, acknowledging that it's a harsh reality for many families.

“The red tape you have to jump through just to get basic care for your loved one is shocking,” she says. “I had to fight for his physical therapy. I had to fight for his wheelchair. I went through two or three appeals processes where he was going to be discharged from his nursing care facility before he was ready. 

“I shouldn't have to fight this hard,” Brown continues. “You can have the means to take care of them, but there are certain things they just still won't give you. And I don't understand why it's this hard to make sure that people in need can have what they need and what they've been paying for.” 

“If there's any silver lining to everything I've been through with my dad, I am now equipped to fight for every other family caregiver in this country because I have walked the gauntlet and I don't want anyone to have to go through what I went through,” she says. 

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That’s one of the reasons Brown is now channeling her caregiving experience into her new podcast, Squeezed, a production of Lemonada Media.

The show — which launches August 21 — will feature healthcare providers, care workers and caregivers who work with people from a variety of races, socioeconomic backgrounds, and gender identities.

“Because it's called Squeezed, we're talking about that particular generation that is squeezed in between — people that are caring for children and older family members — and what that does to you when you're fighting the fight on both ends,” Brown explains. “The conversations are insightful, they're delightful, they're sad. In some of these interviews, I've cried. In all of these interviews, I've laughed and I've learned.” 

The actress tells PEOPLE that she wants her podcast to become a “safe space” so other caregivers know they’re not alone and can find ways to make their situation better for not only themselves but their loved ones.

“Every important issue needs a voice, somebody to say, ‘This is happening to me. This may happen to you. This is how you navigate it,’ she says. “It's important for me to advocate for self-care for these wonderful heroes and to let them know that they're not alone.”

Squeezed premieres August 21 with new episodes airing every Wednesday.