He wants someone to provide him with a place to live, buy him a car and a phone, pay for gas and insurance and his data and minutes, buy his food and cook it for him, do his laundry, provide him with spending money so he can play "big man in town", and not hassle him about his drinking and/or drug use.
When my husband and I were discussing this the other day, he said this is what he did for his son for years....and his accommodation of his son's disease almost killed the young man. That was about 7 years ago when we finally let him go. It has been a process ever since.