11-month résumé gap, advice? after 12 years as an IT help-desk technician

I have been out of work for 11 months and worry about the gap. There are 12 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. I am nervous about being filtered out. How did you handle it on your résumé?

I listed the volunteering and course under the same dates and kept the explanation to a sentence in the cover letter.

A short, honest line such as 'family caregiving' is enough for most employers. They mostly want to know you are ready now.