Creating Independence: Philip Viar’s Mission to Transform Home Care Services | Nursing Home Series | Senior Care

Anthony Codispoti : Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Codispoti and today’s guest is Phillip Viar, CEO and President of Independence Care. They operate 30 independent, privately owned, home care agencies across multiple states, focusing on non-medical services through Medicaid waiver and managed Medicaid insurance programs. Their mission is to serve clients with compassion and help them maintain independence in their lives.

They also offer specialized support for Alzheimer’s and dementia care, transportation and personal assistance. Under Phillip’s leadership, Independence Care has expanded its reach and will introduce Mobile Health Home Parks in 2025. I previously served as CEO at the Avondale Care Group where he honed his expertise in the home care industry. Phillip is recognized for his strategic vision and serves on various boards that promote healthcare and community support. His passion for innovation drives him to seek new ways to improve care for those who need it most. Now before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Ad Back Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. One recent client was able to add over $900 per employee per year in extra cash flow by implementing one of our innovative programs. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible.

To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at adbackbenefitsagency.com. Now back to our guest today, the CEO and President of Independence Care. Phillip, I appreciate you making the time to share your story today.

Phillip Viar  : Oh, well thank you for having me, Anthony. I really appreciate it.

Anthony Codispoti : So let’s go back to, yeah, let’s jump into it. Let’s just do it. Let’s go back early days before Independence Care was even started. How were you drawn into this industry in the first place?

Phillip Viar  : Well, it’s an interesting story and I guess drawn in, thrown in, however you want to categorize it. But my mother-in-law, Lauren, she owns a, or owned a home care agency in New York City and they had been in New York City since 2001. Actually, they worked with a company, Brookdale.

They’re, I think they may be the largest senior living company in the country, but if not very close and they were working inside of Brookdale Building up in Quincy, Massachusetts, providing home care as the preferred provider in the building. And Brookdale was building a beautiful building down in Battery Park right around the corner from the World Trade Center, Stuyvesant High School, if you’re familiar with New York City at all. And it was a beautiful building and they were looking for somebody to come in and be the preferred provider. My understanding is they didn’t have assistant living licenses in New York back then, so they were looking for a home care agency to provide those services. So they, you know, they interviewed people in New York and, you know, people in New York can be very pushy and demanding. So people were like, well, this is how we’re going to do it.

And they’re a billion-dollar company. They were looking for, you know, more of somebody who’s willing to be told what to do, maybe. And so, and then I don’t know, unions, I don’t think they wanted, they tried to stay away from that. So long story short, they asked my mother-in-law and her business partner, Peter, to come down to New York, apply for their home care license, and be the preferred provider in the building. So Lorna filled out the application.

She brought it all the way to the state in Albany, right on the director’s desk, and he looked at it and said, oh my god, we gave you the wrong application. And so the waiting period was very long at that point, maybe three years. He was very helpful.

He was also retiring. So on the way out the door, he helped Lorna get their license quickly, which just, I wish I could remember his name, because Lorna was always thanking him. Anytime she tells a story about Alvendell.

Anthony Codispoti : And so- So she was able to bypass that three-year waiting period? Yes.

Phillip Viar  : And they were doing Medicare and Medicaid up in Massachusetts, and it was a little bit different in New York. So they had gotten the certified agency application, which is, you know, this big, versus the one that they should have gotten, which was this big. So the guy, you know, we felt bad and figured on the way out the door, I’ll do something nice for this lady.

So he was very helpful. And then they got the license. They moved into the building, August 12th, maybe August 15th, 2001, September 11th, 2001, less than a month later. It was obviously a complete disaster. They had to get everybody out.

They hotwired a school bus. It’s just, you know, everyone has crazy story about that today in the months that followed. So, you know, everyone moved to various different places. And I think it was four months later, they started to move back in. At this point, the business was, you know, the business was not doing well, obviously, because of what was happening. And so I think they were considering leaving New York. Thankfully, they didn’t, because they ended up getting things going there, long story short. And then they started working with Atra, which is another huge senior living company, doing essentially the same thing, having an office in the building, being the preferred provider. And they have worked in Atra Building up and running.

Anthony Codispoti : Sorry, just to interrupt for a second. So I understand how that works. So they’ve got an office in a bricks and mortar facility, where like a nursing home facility. And when people are ready to leave that facility and go home, most of those folks, a lot of those folks still need some kind of help.

They need some kind of in-home care. And so you’re there, or she was there in that building to sort of be the preferred provider and say, hey, we can help you make that transition. Am I understanding that right?

Phillip Viar  : Right. So we would provide, you know, mostly non-medical, but, you know, we did a little bit of skilled care, but mostly non-medical people, you know, a caregiver helping them get ready for bed or ready in the morning for the day, medication reminders, helping them with housekeeping. And so we would have an office in the building and then, you know, work with the management.

So it seemed seamless if you’re getting the services from us. And then that was a good model. There wasn’t really anybody else doing that in New York. So when they started, then they started to work with the Atria Buildings. Atria is like another big national home care provider. In the same setup, they had an office in the building that was staffed with a nurse or two nurses, and they would manage the caregivers that were in the building. So we had probably, you know, 30, 40, 50 people on service in any of those buildings. And then what happened was the New York came out to do their first survey.

They had never come out to survey them for a relicensure that was really backed up. So it was five and a half years later, something like that. And they showed up, and they showed up at like a post office box store, because that was the address they had. So they called, very upset, and said, well, where are you?

And they gave them the address for the hallmark, and they went there and they explained what they were doing. And they said, okay, well, where are your records? And I said, well, the records for the people that live here are right here.

And the records for the people that live in Riverdale are in the office in Riverdale. And so it was a unique situation. So they said, well, the regulations say they all need to be in one place. So they went and got an office in Midtown Manhattan. And my wife had just gotten done with college and had, you know, loved the idea of living in New York, going to New York, you know, the shows, the park. I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire.

I was not looking, I was not looking to go live in New York. But we would go there on weekends, and we would, you know, copy the records and bring them to this new main office. And then we’d go out to dinner with her mom and her business partner. And I’d spend the whole time asking them, like, hey, why aren’t you doing this? Or why aren’t you doing that?

Or, you know, if you did it this way, like, I have any idea. But I’ve always been very inquisitive. I used to hang out with my older sister and cousins. And I was limited to 21 questions a day.

I usually spend at least half of them trying to figure out why they didn’t want to hear me asking more questions. So one night, maybe we had been doing this for a few months. And so we had been there a few times, a bunch of times. And I asked a question, and said, well, you know, we have this office, and there’s two offices and a bunch of other room, and why don’t you come do it? And I was working at a mortgage company at the time. And we were doing no doc looms for janitors for $1 million, 105% equity.

So I kind of saw the writing on the wall about the mortgage business. And my dad was in the grocery business his whole life, since he was like 12, when he retired. And he always said, you know, fun job in an industry that people always need. And, you know, home care, the baby boomers, all of that. Certainly that seemed to fit the bill.

I didn’t really listen to my dad as much as I should have, but that was one that I picked up on. So my wife and I moved there. And we were living 43rd between eighth and ninth, right in the middle of Times Square, basically.

And our office was down the street. And we just we started to figure out what we were doing. And then probably, maybe very actually very close to when we started, I feel like we almost lost our job, because the state started to put pressure on the buildings like the Hallmark by Brookdale, Nature, buildings, see a license on their own. So we were in a bit of a pickle, because that was where all of our business came from.

So if they got license, that would be a problem. And so in New York, there’s the system that they use is their certified home care agencies that can bill Medicare and Medicaid. And then there are licensed home care agencies that can do all of their services, but can’t actually do the billing. So the certified agencies contract with the licensed agencies to do the care. And so that was the setup. And then the rest of it was like the Medicaid waiver program was run by the city.

And there are like 20 contracts. And unless like you were there, I don’t think I was gonna say the cousins, you know, the mayor of the cousin, the cousin’s mayor. But I’m not sure that would have helped you. Anyway, it was hard to get a contract. So we, so I started to ask about Medicare and Medicaid. And when they were up in Massachusetts, and I think it was 9890, they went from fee for service to a capitated rate for Medicare. And I think something like 78% of home care businesses went out of business over the next couple of years.

Anthony Codispoti : Explain explain for an outsider why that has such a significant effect.

Phillip Viar  : Well, for a lot of people, and I know particularly in my mother-in-law situation, fee for service means every time you go out and do something, you bill for it. So you know what you’re billing for. And then you know, you know, your payroll is then a capitated rate or episodic payment or depending on what they call it is where you get a set amount of money to provide care till the person is out of their episode.

So for people that were used to not billing that way, it was a complete change. Also, it meant that you had to be more careful about what you prescribe or what you know what your plan of care was to make sure there weren’t too many visits or in a lot of places just couldn’t couldn’t handle that. I know in my mother-in-law’s case, there was a long time where they just were kept doing it the wrong way. I think just like they didn’t know any better.

And it was a pretty confusing time. So so Peter especially was very against Medicare and Medicaid when we were trying to figure out, all right, well, what are we going to do with all these bills and get licensed? And so one of the things, so finally I finally my wife, finally I just worked, I was working with this guy here.

They had a certified home care agency and a long-term care agency. And he was the vice president of something. His name was Tim Letty. He was my greatest mentor I ever had in New York. I met him very early on. We still keep in touch.

He’s a real big deal now. But anyway, we signed a contract with them to provide care. And I told Pete, like, well, we already did it.

I’ve already told them we’re doing it. And so he said, all right. So we started doing it.

And things changed. We had a we had a good end with these places. We because we worked in these buildings and people needed other services other than what we are giving them, whether it was skilled care or, you know, doctor visits or PT or so when we worked with these other providers, they were interested in working with us because not only we were going to be just another provider, we were going to be more of a partner.

We’re going to be a referral partner. And so we were able to sign, I think, some like 40 contracts to do this. And the first eight months we were doing it, our census went from, I don’t know, maybe about 100 to like 450, like very quickly. And then, and then Obamacare came and Medicaid redesigned in New York. And so that city program that I was talking about before, they went to a more managed care situation. So they, you know, all the money went to the managed care organizations, and then they could contract with whoever they wanted. So the contracting opened up from, you know, those 20 places that had the contract to whoever they wanted.

So we were able to get a contract with just about every MCO that came in. And so then things started to really completely change. But as it turns out, Atria ended up getting licensed. So we stopped working in those buildings. So the transition to doing this was interesting. But one of the things we learned do you know what a 202 building is?

Anthony Codispoti : The first time it came up, the first time it came up in a meeting, there were some bunch of people were in the room and they were like, yeah, so would you be able to do this in a 202 building?

And I was like, yeah, absolutely. That’s one of the best places to utilize this type of service would be a 202 building. And then everyone left the room and I turned to the kid that I was with. And I was like, do you know what a 202 building is? And he was like, I have no idea. I thought you were going to tell me. So I didn’t know, but it’s a Section 8 housing for the elderly and disabled.

Okay. And so a lot of them are set up like a like an assisted living basically, they have, you know, a service coordinator that works there, they have to have security. You know, there’s a couple other, you know, regulations that so it was essentially like the hallmark, but instead of paying, you know, $8,000 a month for their people were paying, you know, $600 a month for their but what we found is, you know, the kind of services they got were, you know, some if there was 100 people that lived in one of these buildings, they maybe 50 of them would get some sort of home care service, but they would get it from 32 different agencies. So nobody ever knew who’s coming and going or if, you know, Mrs. Smith’s aide didn’t show up, like nobody really knew who to call because you had to go through the list, or you couldn’t just send over somebody from Mrs. Jones’s room to go help out because you were also working in that room. So, you know, we would go to all these places and explain what we did at the Brookdale Building, the H-Rub Building and essentially say, well, we could do that for you. People would say, well, Jesus, we don’t have any money and we’d say, well, it doesn’t cost anything because, you know, well, it is a very nice thing.

You know, it’s not completely like altruistic. We were making, you know, we’re getting clients that way. And then we’re also able to get all those MCO contracts because again, they wanted access to be able to get to the residents in these buildings to promote their services.

So it just really worked out, the whole system worked out very well. And so at what point did you figure out, hey, we’ve got a model here that is replicable and we should take this to other geographies as well?

Phillip Viar  : Well, I probably thought that much earlier than was really a reality. I’m always maybe one step ahead of where I am in real life in my head. But I don’t know, pretty early on, I thought, you know, pretty early on, like I said, we almost lost our jobs like the first year that we lived, we worked there because they were, you know, things were going to get licensed. So it was something I put a lot of thought into.

My wife and I would talk about it, essentially 24 seven, we would go home and talk about it, and walk to work and talk about it, be at work and talk about it. So I would say probably, you know, around that Medicaid read is 2010, that time about. But we were so busy in New York, you know, we ended up getting I think our highest census was 1257. So we that was, you know, a lot of work. And anytime I wanted to open up a recruiting office in the Bronx or this and Brooklyn, Peter didn’t want to because he had his hands on it, nobody was going to be there.

And so, so that was sort of hard to convince them. But luckily, there’s sort of a, you know, a kismet moment, maybe, but HHA exchange, they’re the computer software that we use for our enterprise system, it keeps track of billing and payroll and your collections module and nursing notes and your EVV or electronic visit verification, which finally became mandatory this year. I think it was in 2020 originally, they were going to make it mandatory, kept pushing it off. But anyway, they’re so they’re an online based software system. And they first started back in 2008, maybe, and we worked with one of the one of those certified companies that could build Medicare and Medicaid. They wanted a way to be able to communicate with their licensed agencies without having to fax or pick up the phone. So this guy, Raphael, was working on the software, which became HHA exchange. And now I think there’s the leader across the country in the sort of software. But we used to be able to call him up and be like, Raphael, this isn’t how we do things, you got to change it around.

And then like the next morning, you look and it would be different. I think he finally retired and was back in Israel. Good friend. I miss him though.

I wish I could still call him and tell him to change things someday. But anyway, we had a very good relationship with all of them. And our office was right across from Madison Square Garden. So it was a very easy place to get to. And then when like HHA exchange, they had hire new salespeople, they would send them to our office and so they could see how people used it and they’d spend the day and hang out. So we were used to sort of doing things like that for them. So they were trying to get the contract to do EVV for Pennsylvania.

They were moving to a managed Medicaid system as well. And so EVV, electronic visit verification. So when you get to somebody’s house, you’re up to clock in, you either can call from their telephone or you can use a GPS app.

But there has to be one of those that links you to their house, both on a clock in and clock out basis. And I think now the limit, I think they put it out as maybe 85% you need to be out. It’s gone up every year. But yeah, so I think I lost my train of thought of electronic visit verification.

Anthony Codispoti : Oh, yes, they were getting the, yes, they were getting the they were trying to get the contract with Pennsylvania. And Pennsylvania wanted one company to do all of it. So they had signed the contract with the state and the two other managed care organizations and UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, they’re a behemoth in Pennsylvania.

I think they, I think they employ over 100,000 people and they’re the biggest employer in the state. So they have a lot of sway and how things turn out. So I guess they wanted to see it live and see somebody using it and how it works. So they invited them to our office. And I think there were seven people that came, different executives and people putting the plan together. And so they sat around all day and, you know, ask questions, went to different departments. And at the end of the day, we had the connected interview.

Phillip Viar  : And they finally said sort of the same thing Peter had said to me like, almost 10 years ago, like, well, so why don’t you go do it? And I was like, well, I’ve always thought the hardest thing about business is getting somebody to pay you to do something.

I think the rest of it you could figure out if you had to. But if nobody’s going to pay you to do it, it’s not a real business. So I said, well, you guys promise like you’ll sign a contract and we’ll work together. And they were like, well, yeah, great. And I was like, all right, well, for any business short, I’ll try and talk Peter into it.

So I finally did. I told him he could own half of it, not have to do anything ever and just allow me the time to work on it when I needed. Sounds like a pretty good offer. Yeah, so it worked out well. We started that in 2017 in Pittsburgh, which was a really great experience. I really, really enjoy that town. I’ve gotten to make some great relationships in court, including the mayor, Ed Ganey, he’s a great guy. We met him actually, our office was right down the street from he’s a state rep or I think he’s a state rep at the time.

And he came back from Harrisburg that day, made it under two hours, he said, just to come to our grand opening. Anyway, I stayed in touch with him. He helped me out with Billbill, another personal situation. Well, it’s a whole other story. But anyway, he’s a great guy.

And I like Pittsburgh a lot. It was our first, like I said, first jump into another city and being able to figure out how we can be there and how we can make sure our culture and the way that we look at things and the way that we operate is left there without being there all the time, which I think was always Peter’s underlying issue about opening things in other places. So we figured that out. And that was really great.

Anthony Codispoti : So let me ask you this, Phil.

Phillip Viar  : That was not a first in the condons care, though.

Anthony Codispoti : So, oh, it wasn’t. So, just kind of thinking, thinking ahead here, you know, I’ve talked to a lot of home healthcare companies, and it’s really common for them to go with a franchise model. Like, hey, we figured out something that works in this location. Let’s franchise it. But that’s not the approach that you guys took. No. Tell us your thought process there.

Phillip Viar  : Well, my wife easier to sort of like hold control easier to kind of build. My wife is, I don’t want to say control freak, because she’s not a freak, but my life, my wife likes to have control. And so that was a lot of it. She didn’t want, you know, for her, she said if she’s not a part of it, she doesn’t want her name, like she doesn’t want her name on it. And to her, that’s what a franchise would be, no matter how much you, you know, look through the people and no matter how much you vetted anybody, it just, you never know.

And she just wasn’t really willing to do it. So you guys had figured out a good way to do things. You were building your own culture, your own systems. You wanted to make sure that that remained consistent throughout any new locations that you were going to open up. Right.

Phillip Viar  : And, you know, and we also thought in this, we haven’t, we haven’t figured this out in the opportunity hasn’t come up, but we also thought, you know, if you find the right person, you can set it up as a franchise really anyway, you find the right person, you do some sort of profit share, everyone’s really in the same position. And, you know, so, so I’m in the long term, I think if some situation like that came up, that would be great. Because at some point it is hard to make sure you get to all 30 different places on, you know. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti : So paint a picture for us about what the company looks like today. How many locations, which states, what’s going on?

Phillip Viar  : So we are in, I forget all the, I’m just going to list them out of my, so I don’t have to give you numbers that I’m wrong about, but we’re in New Hampshire. We cover basically the whole state. I grew up there. So that was special to me and my family still lives there. We have five locations in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, Chicago, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Arkansas in Missouri. That’s quite a list. Yes.

Anthony Codispoti : And so each of these locations is doing roughly the same thing, offering the same kinds of services in the same way?

Phillip Viar  : Yeah, there’s a couple of outliers. In Kentucky, we have an intellectual disabilities license. So we do a bunch of that. Also in Arkansas, we have an intellectual disability license. And so we do a little bit of that. But again, but other than that, mostly the rest of it is all the same sort of offerings, non-medical home care, helping with activities of daily living.

Anthony Codispoti : Is it mostly senior care? Or I know you mentioned those two locations that you’ve got intellectual disability licenses, but in the other locations, is it still mostly senior care or?

Phillip Viar  : Oh, yeah, for sure. For sure, mostly. We do some adolescents, but it’s mostly, yeah, mostly 65 and over. I would say about 90%, if not more.

Anthony Codispoti : So to get from where you were to where you are now with 30 locations, that’s a pretty good growth curve. What was the single most effective growth strategy for you?

Phillip Viar  : Grit. Just really just keep moving forward, keep applying, keep looking for the next opportunity, just keep at it every day. Really, I mean, it’s a pretty simple answer, I suppose. But I really think, you know. Just hard work.

Anthony Codispoti : Those to the grindstone kind of a thing. Yeah.

Phillip Viar  : In research, the places that we’re applying for, we had reasons for the most part to apply to them. Some sort of ease of entry was actually a big one. The faster we could get in and start providing services and helping people out, the better. I mentioned before, I never wanted to live in New York. I didn’t. I’m glad that I had the experience and I’m glad that I’m gone. But one of the things it taught me is that saying you, we had this, we’re in an office and there was a security guard right there. I remember at least once a week, you would yell at me as I walked by, hey, remember if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

I just thought it was funny, but looking back on it, it’s true. In going to other places, New York is just different. Everybody, not everybody, but it’s just, it’s faster paced. It’s more aggressive. It’s more competitive.

It’s more, you gotta be on your game. And so it has certainly been helpful going to other places, just with different ideas that those areas haven’t really heard or just bringing sort of different mindset to what we’re doing has been interesting. So in retrospect, I’m glad I had that experience. I think it’s been helpful. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti : Make it here. You can make it anywhere. I’d love to hear, Philip, about the mobile health home park concept. What is this and why are you so excited about it?

Phillip Viar  : Oh, well, I, so this goes back a long way. I grew up in a town in New Hampshire that had three mobile home parks. And I sort of romanticized them as a kid because all, you know, everyone had to get on a bus to go there, but then they all get off the bus and they all got to go play football together and they all got to like hang out. And it just seemed real exciting. And then I remember I went to this kid, Josh, his like 10th birthday, and we had to sleep over. And I just remember thinking like, wow, this is like camping.

Like everyone’s so close and it just, I don’t know, it felt really great to me. So for the longest time, I’ve thought about mobile homes. I was trying to actually find something the other day. And I think I found something from 2009, where it was talking about affordable housing and, and home care.

And this, some of these issues over the years have just got worse and worse. But the idea was that, you know, housing is hard to build. It’s expensive to build.

And this is a less expensive way. And having assisted livings at a mobile home park was really the basic idea to begin with. And sometimes it was more of a joke, as people would laugh when I would say it. But anytime I ever drove by a mobile home park, I would point out to whoever I was in the car with, look, that’s a perfect example.

And then I would repeat the idea about what we should do there with turning it into an assisted living more or less. And so over the last few years, and probably COVID had a lot to do with this, I would imagine. And not the numbers in front of me, but recruiting, if you ask any home care provider, what’s your biggest issue? I would imagine it would be recruiting, staffing, you know, keeping, keeping caregivers.

And so the other part is we, in the buildings, we worked in New York City, we did a lot of cluster care. So instead of having, and especially with Medicare and Medicaid, you know, they’ll get four hours a day of service, or sometimes even two. And what happens is somebody goes in, they do something, you know, maybe make a breakfast real quick, and then they will sit down and watch Wheel of Fortune.

And then two and a half hours later, she gets up and she, you know, the caregiver might, you know, fix her lunch and then, you know, do a little laundry and leave. And it’s not as helpful as it could be. So since we had, you know, people all together, what we would do is if you got, you know, if you had four or eight, or, you know, however you’re going to break it up, or six people with four hours, instead of somebody sitting there and doing that, you’d have that one person going around. So they’re constantly working, and they’re constantly going around seeing who needs help and what they could be doing. And, you know, people like that make them feel more independent. They don’t necessarily have somebody, a lot of people don’t like to stigma of somebody sitting there next to them in scrubs or walking out the street. So all of our caregivers wear polo shirts and khaki pants, just because that’s the way Lorna taught me a long time ago. And so what was it?

Anthony Codispoti : So this is this idea is called cluster care, right?

Phillip Viar  : Yeah, so cluster care. So we did a lot of that and I thought you can do this. So instead of getting four hours, you can get somebody to have 24 hour care But for the same price and they’re getting the same amount of care because nobody needs it’s not helpful to sit there and stare at Somebody watch TV with them really.

Anthony Codispoti : Yeah, because the provider isn’t sitting there the entire time They’re moving around to different locations people who are nearby and helping them and then coming back, right?

Phillip Viar  : Right and so, you know, that’s another good thing you can do in these and these mobile homes and so in night Back in July we have a home care agency in Arkansas and I was Looking at the website for some reason and said that they were reposting this grant bid and So I immediately thought well, they’re reposting and I wonder why So I read it and it was for 50 to 60 units of housing for clients who have intellectual disabilities behavioral health issues or and or substance abuse and they’re creating a new level of service. I think it’s called Independent supportive living therapeutic level for years and some long man And so these are for people who have those issues that have already gone through level one or level two Which is more sort of strict locked facility would have you and they’re working on getting out and working like living out independently and So the idea is they would go to whatever this place was and you would help them get jobs You would help them get back into the community connect them with therapy services help them with, you know, whatever daily activities you need So it was to provide 50 to 60 of units housing for that type of model And so we put together a plan where originally it was to buy a mobile home park and to put in tiny homes So that’s what we’re gonna do and we put in our proposal thinking like well There’s no way we’ll ever win this but this was a good exercise and maybe now in the future like love something, you know We have a much bigger Model now we have you know things we can show people and you know that sort of thing So I thought it would be helpful anyhow and then in the middle of September we found out we won We got the award So that was shocking But but it was a real roller coaster ride because it was very exciting that we got it But we had used as an example of this mobile home park in Camden, Arkansas Which I doubt you have heard of but it is about an hour and 45 minutes south and a little west of Little Rock and It’s it’s a very it’s very small town Well, I guess it’s a city but right next to it is Highland industrial Park, which is a 25,000 acre industrial Park.

It’s got like an eight mile long rocket range Raytheon is in there They’re just building a new factory to build the iron dome missiles I think they build the Patriot missile there sling shot some other things anything that blows up It used to be a military base navy base back in the 40s and 50s and then it got decommissioned and LBJ sold it to I think Brown and Root Company in Texas, which I think was his Father-in-law, but then it became Halliburton down the road.

Anthony Codispoti : So maybe there’s a lot of industry nearby

Phillip Viar  : Well, just in that one spot really and it’s sort of interesting is that If locally, it’s interesting human and nobody else made it find it interesting but the industrial park is in one county and That county is basically the industrial park, but then everything else is in the other county next door. So so they have some weird sharing of Resources and stuff because otherwise There’s really nothing in these other towns.

Anthony Codispoti : So anyway, so it’s a very you need bro Do you need sewers you need places for people to live hospital schools that kind of right?

Phillip Viar  : and so They hire a lot of you know higher-end workers over there, but there’s really no place That’s if you’re making a hundred and thousand hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year There really isn’t housing for that market there. So people are either driving back to Little Rock or go and Staying four days at a hotel and then going back to Mississippi or Texas or wherever they live So it’s an interesting place. I guess to say the least But I called up the girl the lady that was selling in mobile home park and I talked to her about a month before and She was actually very excited. She’s like I’ve actually wanted to turn this into a Assisted living and it’s just you know never had the time and I owned some other stuff in town

Anthony Codispoti : Sorry, let me interrupt you for a second. So the idea is it’s a mobile home park But each of the individual units is an independent living Unit for somebody and you’ve got care providers that can go around to all these different units. That’s right So everybody who’s living there is getting some sort of care from you

Phillip Viar  : Well, no not everybody and it doesn’t have to be that way I’ve actually I’ve actually figured out a financial model where you could let people from like the VA or even Medicaid Waiver program people live for free essentially or very small stipend so long as you’re doing the care You know, you’re still making money and so long as you don’t need to be greedy It’s a good business model. I think but I think it would be we’ll get there down the road But for right now The way that we’re doing this one anyway and as part of this level three in the housing They they don’t want and I think it’s against the regulations to like segregate them You can’t make a campus. You can’t put them all in the same building. They want them integrated in the community So in this particular place Well real quick about this other girl Brittany who owned the park I called her was like we’re gonna buy your mobile home park and she’s like, oh my god I sold it to somebody last week and I was like, oh you can’t be serious And I was devastated and I was thinking oh my god Like now we’re gonna lose out on the grant and now we’re not gonna be able to do this I’m gonna fly to Arkansas and change her mind So I flew to Arkansas and I went to the mobile home park and I started asking people Hey, you know Britney is so then they told me to go up to like the laundry mouth that she owned or the dry cleaner Whatever it was And I ran into her husband and he was like, yeah, I really think Really think we have to see this through but maybe it will fall through and So I was disappointed and then I went to Because of that weird thing where it’s all in different counties. They have some it’s called the tri-county Economic development or whatever it’s called. And so I went there thinking well, maybe these people have an idea and So I talked to James Lee the guy that runs the place and he said well There’s this airport in for sale up on the main road by the airport and I had seen it It looks like a real dump And he’s like but it’s also got a gas station and convenience store and as part of the program that We’re doing we have to create jobs for you know these for the clients to work in a Little bus so there’s a convenience store and gas station and some other building and I was like well It was interesting and I was on the way out of town And so he said I know real estate lady I can call and she can probably meet you there So I went up over there and walked around by the time she got there I’d already realized that project was way over our head And so when she got there I told her basically that so we don’t need to look around But I explained what we were doing and what we’re looking for and she said alright Well, I might have something for you and I didn’t know this until Basically we closed she used to own the mobile home park that we bought and she sold it four years ago to this mother and a son Who I guess the father died and they used insurance money about 14 mobile home parks And I think they realized they couldn’t keep up 14 mobile home parks And this is one of them that they were not keeping up or maybe the one and so she went to them and said hey I think I can get you out of this if you want blah blah So she came back and was like yeah, I found one for you And it’s right its neighbors to the Highland Industrial Park Which ultimately has been very helpful They own a piece of land. There’s about an acre and a half They don’t know they’re the biggest landowners in East Camden. They own Most of the town, but they own this random one and a half acre piece of land right in front of the mobile home park So they also own the water and sewer company. So we’ve had to deal with them a bunch so I asked them if we Could have that land and we could build a park on it So everybody in town could have access to it and basketball court and pickleball and some other stuff and They said well, we don’t sell our land. So Anyway, I’ve been working with this lady there who is actually also on the city council But the director of business development at islands or her name is Janice. She’s been extremely helpful and so I think they’re I think they’re gonna do it actually

Anthony Codispoti : So we’re Stand now like where where is the mobile health home park? Is it opening soon? Here we are January 31st 2025 recording this episode.

Phillip Viar  : Yeah, so It should be it should be open for this program in July They haven’t they haven’t actually completed all of the regulations and the writing out of the program officially So I think my understanding is they have to wait till the legislature comes back in June and then they’ll approve it And they’ll start in July in the meantime We are doing a lot of work at the mobile home park. So it was um, it’s 20 acres but only 10 of it was developed and so There’s 42 I think spaces so we’ve gotten rid of 11 of them Getting a rate of a mobile home is an interesting thing to watch And

Anthony Codispoti : so we’ve got rid of them just because they’re derelict. They’re they’re broken down. They need to be disposed of or what’s the situation?

Phillip Viar  : exactly and We needed space for we’re getting 10 or 11 brand new five bedroom four bath Mobile homes for the program Excuse me, which will be you know dispersed and amongst all the rest of them And so there were 16. I think already rented were redoing eight of them And then and then as people move out will redo the rest of them so we’ll have our first new tenants that started with us moving in I Think tomorrow February 1st In the meantime, we’ve cleared out the other 10 acres that was there And we’re have built a road a road all the way around it. We’re gonna make that into an RV park Like I was mentioning all the people next door that work there and At Highlands one of the things that some of them get or a lot of them get is a $98 day Per diem for housing So a lot of them are taking that buying some sort of travel trailer RV or whatever and using that money to pay it off But the closest place to even keep one of those is like 30 miles away. So our ideas We’re gonna do that help ease their problem, but it’ll also help sustain Our program by bringing some other revenue sources, which was part of the plan Originally so that’s going along well that should actually be open probably March 1st And then we’re doing one other exciting thing up there.

We’re doing a pilot program within this program for the program like the original request was For things that will help with substance abuse and behavioral health issues that are non Pharmaceutical related and so I have a friend here in Florida who opened a sober living in his backyard I guess it is but it’s really it’s really based along cold plunge. Have you heard about that? I know it’s been like a you know, it’s been a big trend recently People are getting garbage cans

Anthony Codispoti : Golden yeah, it’s supposed to release all sorts of endorphins and you know feel good chemicals And yeah kind of be a natural sort of antidepressant, right?

Phillip Viar  : And I’ll be honest when I first thought I thought it was a little goofy and I was like, okay well Yeah, we should all go in and yeah, I don’t I can’t think it’s gonna change the world. However My since actually going and seeing a bunch of things He has these geometric domes that he builds and then inside it’s a sauna. So it gets up to about 120 degrees So he’s got exact protocols, but you know, basically you go in and you get really hot and then All of them are a little bit different one of them is got Again the floor there’s barrels that you open up and then you get in them for the cold plunge There’s ones with a pool that sort of you walk in like a zero entry So they’re all a little bit different But then you go in the water in the cold water as long as you can stand it and you get out and you repeat that So I’ve read a lot about it since talking to him and a lot of different studies and it does seem I I understand that it research your nervous system and you know a lot of I think almost all anxiety and behavioral health and substance abuse sort of Begin there with that with your nervous system if you will so I can see the logic behind it for sure So we’re gonna use that Number one another revenue source and a job for the people to work at you know sort of to open to the public But also we’re gonna keep track of their Their use of it and their progression and I don’t see how things go So

Anthony Codispoti : I’m really excited enough of a population nearby that you think could support the use of this

Phillip Viar  : Well, you know, we’re gonna have 50 clients, you know at any given time, you know, maybe 60 we have 50 beds right now for sure We’re redoing We’re redoing nine eight or nine of them So if they don’t get will fill those up to they’re a little bit small I think those are three bedrooms But in those people the goal will be to have them there for 90 days to a year and sort of help them get back into the community and my goal is Camden is a I think there’s 900 people that live in East Camden and So I would like to see you know a lot of these people get back into the community and stay there and build small businesses And you know build up the community Camden the city right next door has a population of about 10,000 and Maybe it was 15 years ago The population was around 15 close to 16 and a paper mill closed and so so the Towns sort of went backwards has been going backwards for a while, but there’s a lot of room I think to build a backup so So yeah, I’m hoping people stick around afterwards

Anthony Codispoti : so you brought this up earlier about the challenges in different kinds of care environments of Finding good folks to work with you retaining them recruiting them You guys are now open in multiple states multiple locations And this is all under you this is all under your umbrella These aren’t you know independent franchises I’m kind of curious what you guys have tried and have seen success with To find good folks then once you find them hold on to them in in you know an industry where there’s you know traditionally a little bit of

Phillip Viar  : turnover Yeah, that is certainly been a challenge So I think number one Being okay with turnover. I know a lot of people don’t like that and maybe it’s Maybe it’s the wrong way to look at things But I would rather have somebody who doesn’t want to be here isn’t gonna be around doesn’t really dedicated to what we’re doing and doesn’t sort of You know see things the same way that we do and doesn’t want to work in that way. I’d rather just know Sooner rather than later and I know Peter used to say I think Ross pro actually he worked for used to say this But Eagles don’t flock you have to find them one at a time and so So, you know, I I think that’s hard, but I think well for me what it’s been is you know having a relationship with people Also finding people that may have been in this business before I think it’s helpful because they don’t are either bad habits or you know, just a different way of Looking at things or you know when we worked in those buildings The private pay buildings when I first started in New York There wasn’t the word no like we don’t do that doesn’t exist didn’t exist So if we didn’t do it we had to we would find somebody who did and then be like yeah Here’s you know here’s who we have who does it sort of thing because you know these people were You know these people are used to not being told no I guess and what I found is on the sort of pendulum of What do we call it of? like people on the very high-end wealth are very Demanding and entitled and the people on the very other end are also demanding and entitled So I think it’s a continuum that must meet very quickly thereafter But we kept that you know through even when we’re working in these Medicaid places like yeah If you if you ask us we’ll do it or I’ll find the answer for you because I was googled so I can figure it out I just but there are other places like you know people come in and they’re like oh yeah We don’t do that and I would hear them on the phone But I quit what do you mean? I don’t do that of course we do that or we can figure it out and then they’re like well And I’ve worked at three other places none of them did it

Anthony Codispoti : kind of like the 202 building of course We can do that in the 202 building and then okay. What’s a 202 building? Let’s let’s figure it out Put the pieces together afterwards

Phillip Viar  : that Tim what I was telling you about earlier one of the first times you talked to me said that they needed lactation Nurses and they’re having a really hard time and if I could do that like you know Big bosses would be real impressed and I was like oh, what are you talking about? We have three or four lactation nurses. I was just talking about yesterday with somebody and so then I called Borna I might have gone home. We actually lived in the same apartment in New York for a long time and Said like so what’s a lactation? lactation Now I know what it is and we went and found two people that could do it Ready fire in Yeah, Philip.

Anthony Codispoti : I’ve just got one more question for you But before I ask it I want to do two things first of all for everybody listening today I know that you like today’s content Philip put a great guest today Please hit the like share follow subscribe button on your favorite podcast app So you continue getting great content like this Philip I also want to let people know the best way to get in touch with you or to continue to follow your story What would that be?

Phillip Viar  : Oh? Geez, I guess give me a call Or email me our website is independence care dot pro We’re not big on social media I think we have one but I couldn’t tell you what I couldn’t tell you what it is

Anthony Codispoti : So indica independence care dot pro that’s

Phillip Viar  : that’s Doesn’t make your product better don’t spend any time on and

Anthony Codispoti : I’m not sure how telling the world how great we are via social media Is making us any better so so but anyway or you can email me fill a fire at independence care dot pro Great will include those links in the show notes for folks. So last question for you Philip I’m curious to hear about a serious challenge that you’ve overcome what that was like getting through it and some lessons that

Phillip Viar  : you Serious challenge Well something personal professional maybe a combination.

Anthony Codispoti : Yeah, no, I suppose I suppose I have a bunch but I have been sober for 15 years and Four months and four days So nothing I’m still coming but back when I first lived in New York. I Well actually even going back before that I Don’t know how much time we have but I was adopted and so I was adopted by my mother’s cousin a long story My biological father was in jail ten years before I was born In my mother and my biological mother and him met in a co-ed prison in Massachusetts classic American love story and And so I was born In my mom’s in prison they let her out to go out of the baby. I was born addicted to heroin I’m sure that was a big struggle. I don’t really remember much of it but so then my mom got her act together got out of jail, but my dad was in prison for First degree murder he had gotten life without parole. He was 21 I think he was driving a getaway car for a couple of his friends Who went inside to rob a convenient a drugstore and it was a local neighborhood thing in Jamaica plain in Boston and so they knew that these two old guys worked there and they thought they would just be using turns out one of the old Guys nephew had stepped in for him and swung him up at the guys and they shot him

Anthony Codispoti : Anyway, so my dad who’s young and I guess a little stubborn wouldn’t plead guilty or anything because well He didn’t kill anybody and so I should he you know Be guilty of first degree murder and then he got a life in prison and they used to have furloughs back in Massachusetts, I don’t know if you remember when Michael Dukakis ran for president There was a guy named Willie Horton who had gotten out on one of those furloughs and I think on the South Carolina and rape to the lady so it came up in one of the presidential debates and Very shortly thereafter furloughs were canceled. So So I used to see him up until I was probably four or five outside of outside of prison and then I went to live in New Jersey with my mom’s cousin We she was gonna be back in like a couple of weeks She said get some things in order and then I saw her I think when I was 38 Next time or something like that at my grandmother’s funeral. So she didn’t come back. So my sister my older sister and I went and

Phillip Viar  : Went to New Hampshire to live with Ann and Peter the people I call my parents now and then Yeah, so I grew up so then I grew up in Hampshire from there sort of I thought the whole thing with my dad I would talk to him for a while and then as I got older I really didn’t and sort of interesting side story in 2000 he got out of jail for about 18 months. They Lower court, Massachusetts. It’s overturned as conviction in order to new trial because of jury instruction I guess they compared reasonable doubt to the moral certainty of getting pregnant or Having a child and that was right before Roe versus Wade where you can get an abortion And I don’t so they overturned it. He got out of jail. I gel for 18 months. You know had a job Bank account car stayed out of trouble I mean, I spend a lot of time together during that time I was I was in my early 20s and I was Angry at my parents that adopted me and I was angry at my parents that left me I was just angry.

There’s a tangry at everybody and But I’m also sort of not out like Not outwardly angry at people. So I think I took it out on myself mostly and Anyway, so 18 months later he had to go back to court and then they said The Supreme Court re overturned it and I remember Shawshank Redemption was had been out at that point and I was like so we’re gonna meet by a boat in Mexico Or how’s this gonna work and He And they gave him a week to turn himself in and give his affairs in order and he’s like no I’m just gonna go back and you know keep doing the next right thing and eventually they’ll work out and He went back in 2001 and then He didn’t get out again. He ended up getting out in 2020 February of 2020 on a compassionate release from Massachusetts They had Finally changed some of the laws and he had diabetes. So he had both of his feet halfway amputated and one of his fingers He had the 18 heart attacks and held before he died and so he was he’s a type one diabetic He was So he wasn’t going anywhere and it was just you know, it was liberal in the state as Massachusetts gets a reputation for dealing with some of those people who would insist that he was a danger to people and Anyway It was difficult.

So then he he got out he went to go live with his brother COVID happened so he was basically stuck there and Then he finally got to go live on his own for maybe about a month and then his brother found him Insulin incident and so he had to go to a nursing home and he had grown up in Boston You know anybody that still was part of his life lived in Boston and they couldn’t find a nursing home to take him because of his background So he ended up going to a nursing home out in western Massachusetts and dying very shortly thereafter. So That was unfortunate, but He was He was really he’s a really great guy in a lot of ways And just the most optimistic person I’ve ever met Everything was always just gonna be okay and Anyway, so I had a lot of those feelings in my early 20s. I guess is what I was getting at and so I So, you know as far as drinking goes like I you know, I didn’t Wasn’t somebody I was somebody who when I drank like I didn’t know when it was gonna stop because you know, it’s never good there’s an AA saying once many a thousand’s not enough and I Really had I really buy into that and so When I got to New York, you know, one of the things I did was find a friend who liked to drink and in Hang out so the first year I was there, you know, I It didn’t seem like a problem. I didn’t really cannot get up go to work But then then we had our first child Thaddeus in September of 2008 and So the first year of his life You know, it was pretty as far as drinking goes just to keep with that You know, there really wasn’t too much and then some crazy story happened in June and I missed some planes. It was just it was embarrassing like I started to do some things that were just stupid and so One day my wife came home and said listen, I’m taking Thaddeus and I’m going to go to Massachusetts And you configure shit out and give me a call and so I Immediately Called my best friend in Massachusetts told him he should come down because we were gonna have a great time for three days And then my second call was to my psychiatrist who I had explored sobriety, I suppose in the past and He always said if there’s any time like I want to go we had a place for me.

So I Called him and I went to this place called high watch farm up in Connecticut Which I think it was it was founded by Bill Wilson. He’s got started a and it was I think the first Rehab that it was focused on the 12 steps. So I ended up going there for 28 days and I changed my life

Anthony Codispoti : I Can see that there’s a lot of pain there. I mean that’s a lot of heavy stuff that Happened to you when you were younger and And it sounds like you were saying that you know there was a lot of anger there but you weren’t outwardly angry at other people so you kind of turn that in on yourself and And that led to the drinking and You found yourself kind of Going down a path that wasn’t good you had a family you had a wife and a kid and Fortunately your your psychologist your psychiatrist and hey, I got a place that can help you so you went to this place and Changed your life was able to help Get you back on track give you a new lease on

Phillip Viar  : life Yeah, then when I go back to work Peter made me I Think I made myself I gave myself a title of special assistant to the president. I wasn’t really allowed to do anything I was unless maybe yes specifically and so I actually spend a lot of time making Plans for the future and sort of sketching things out and Sometimes there’s a lot it was very helpful, but I really had to earn my way back. I guess is what I’m saying And that took a while But even after 15 and a half years sometimes I still suffer the consequences of it But look at where you are now oh Family got a successful business.

Anthony Codispoti : You’ve been clean for over 15 years That’s gotta feel good.

Phillip Viar  : Oh No, yeah, no amazing. I Know I would say like you talk about regrets like you know I wouldn’t or people say oh, what would you change my my son actually asked me about the other day and I Wouldn’t change anything because then I wouldn’t be here and I like being here and I like what we’re doing that like a lot of my family and So yeah, things are good. It’s really it’s really been a blessing and I guess it’s part of I Feel real connection to these people were working with in Arkansas even the people that we I mean the people who haven’t even met yet They’re gonna be our clients, but just like there’s 32 kids that live in this mobile home park And a lot of them have some sad stories themselves And so I can see myself in some of them And I can see us know just helping our clients with the community as a whole Makes me excited to be able to do that That’s neat.

Anthony Codispoti : That’s so cool when your heart’s in an even stronger place like that. It’s driving Obviously, you know the business side of things the numbers have to work out, but I Have to imagine there’s an extra incentive to get out of bed every morning Because you know that you’re helping folks that have been through some rough stuff like yourself Yeah Yeah, it’s a powerful story. I really appreciate you sharing it with us today I appreciate you being a guest on the inspired stories podcast. Thank you.

Phillip Viar  : Oh, thank you I was trying to live up to the name. I hope I got close

Anthony Codispoti : Yeah, you hit it out of the park man Folks, that’s a that’s a wrap on another and a very powerful episode of the inspired stories podcast. Thanks for being with us today You