What are your tips for staying independent at your own home?

Join a village in your community! There are 350 such organizations in the U.S., whose mission is to help older adults age in their own homes. Villages provide support in three areas: 1) practical (rides, home maintenance, tech help and lots more), 2) cultural/educational (my village offers ~15 - 20 programs annually...topics of local or current interest and age-related topis) and 3) social (monthly Happy Hours and 2 large annual parties). Villages range in size from 4 to 2,800 participants...so lots of options! A Village to Village Network provides models and communication among villages. Enjoy!

@susiewordsmith Do I just Google Village to Village Network to find one in my area?

@susiewordsmith Do I just Google Village to Village Network to find one in my area?

@susiewordsmith I have never heard about anything like that in “neighborhoods”.
Where are these Villages, and who pays for the activities?

@SusanEllen66
Hello! Villages all charge membership dues (although some sliding scale available for people who wish to join but are financially limited)...these dues pay for most expenses. Some events are hybrid...e.g. Happy Hour...Village pays for pizza, heavy hors d'oevres and soft drinks...but individuals who wish to order alcoholic beverages are asked to pay $5 for wine and $10 for mixed drinks. Village pays admission to museums and other venues...although individuals can contribute if fees are higher than Village budget can accommodate. All rides are provided at no cost to members, ditto home repairs etc. The Village to which I belong has very (very!) modest budget, but good financial management enables us to stretch these dollars very far.
Susan

@SusanEllen66 https://www.helpfulvillage.com/the-village-movement

only thing i might add would be if you are a woman who is used to wearing high or higher heels, i'd recommend lowering them or converting to flats if you are in fear of falling,

@susiewordsmith I have never heard about anything like that in “neighborhoods”.
Where are these Villages, and who pays for the activities?

@kjoed53 Oh, I get this "...I'm learning and changing slowly but not happily. For me it's about being useful and I just have to get into the mindset that my definition of useful has to change with my decline in physical abilities..."
I am one day out from a spinal injection, seven weeks out from wrist replacement, on my way to becoming bionic, and determined to keep moving - my spouse is the same - but we are a LOT slower (and wiser) in our approach to life.

We recently hired someone (3 young people) to do some overdue refreshing in our home - things like painting ceilings, and tall entryways, building out a new closet, and replacing flooring - they also ended up painting almost every room in our contracted time. 10 years ago we would have done it all ourselves and gone dancing afterwards, but now we admitted that it would have taken us 2 months to do what they did in 4 days! So I get to spend my energy making my sewing room accessible for the long run, clearing unused stuff out of nooks and crannies, and rearranging furniture, shelves and paintings in our fresh space. The same with our 1/4 acre yard with extensive perennial gardens - I now have helpers 1/2 day per week, doing the heavy work like spreading mulch, moving big plants, trimming bushes, and helping with weeding. In the fall a couple comes for 2-3 hours to "put the yard to bed" - job that would now take me a few hours a day for a week!
We really love our house, location and neighbors, so we plan to stay. Our son-in-law already scoped out where we will place an elevator to serve garage (on grade) and living levels up & down 7 steps from the entry. We didn't think about steps when we bought the house over 40 years ago!
But we have been adding railings, grab bars, upgraded lighting for years. Heavy and awkward items have been taken off high shelves (learned after shoulder surgery & wrist replacement.) There are safe step stools upstairs, downstairs and in the garage, and the big ladders have new homes - no more climbing on chairs or extension ladders!

@altilla thank you. I live in a community that has “helping hands” volunteers who help me get to appointments, and they do things around my place if I need help.
We have 2 golf courses, recreational facilities with pools, pickle ball courts, tennis, 2 restaurants, and my favorite glass works, jewelry making, pottery making, a fine arts center where I am going to go for lessons soon.
This community has 4000 homes in Peoria, Arizona.

There aren’t any “Villages” in Arizona, I checked. But I think I have everything I need here.

Westbrook Village, Peoria, AZ