A recent AARP poll found that 99% of people do not want to be in a nursing home during their senior years. That's because nursing homes tend to be very impersonal institutions. Sure, some offer great care, but that's more the exception than the rule.

Interestingly, the demand for beds in nursing homes is less than demographers predicted. Americans have instead made allowances to care for aging relatives at home. But such an arrangement is not always possible or practical.

So what's the alternative? The Wall Street Journal recently had a write-up on "Green Houses," a new vision for elder care being advanced by a man named Dr. Bill Thomas. These home-like facilities house only 10-12 residents -- instead of hundreds.

Thomas teamed up with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to create more than 40 such Green Houses in a select number of states. The eventual goal is to have them in all 50 states.

As you can imagine, the nursing home industry is trying to block the Green House movement with the help of state regulators. They perceive it as a direct revenue threat. But when 99% of your potential customers don't want to do business with you, you know something is wrong!

Clark once served on the board of a non-profit nursing home, and he knows that the difficulties in running a facility are enormous. So he plans to follow the Green House movement with interest. Baby boomers are aging and there will be a wave of elders seeking nursing home care in the next 10 years.