BY MALLORIE MCCOY FOR THE OBSERVER

AUBURN — Village Friends is a nonprofit organization that provides support to adults over 65 in the Auburn-Opelika community who desire to remain independent in their own homes for as long as possible. Brittany Branyon, executive director of Village Friends since October 2024, said the organization refers to this notion as “aging in place.” Village Friends is a group of volunteers who offer a variety of services to promote aging in place, such as transportation, lawn care, home maintenance and technology literacy. “Our volunteers drove over 9,000 miles in 2024, [including] 500 medical appointments in one year alone,” said Branyon. “That just shows how important the transportation aspect of what we do is.” Another goal of Village Friends is to provide com

See Full Page