I live near Boston, but far enough away that commuting daily is impractical. Instead, I go in once a week.
Perhaps you can focus on applying to jobs where you can show up in person occasionally, but not daily? It helps significantly to have a face-to-face relationship with the people I work with.
His life would be much "easier" if he didn't have to be his mother's caretaker. But this is America, so he has to, so he's fucked.