HOSCHTON, Ga. (AP) – Wearing shoulder-length gloves, Kitty Hunt stuck her arms through two holes of a large plastic wall and embraced her mother.
“I was just tickled to death,” Hunt said with emotion. “Touch just goes beyond words.”
Hunt, who lives in Hoschton, said her visit to The Oaks at Braselton on Friday, Aug. 28, marked the first time she has held her 97-year-old mother since March. The assisted living facility closed its doors to visitors during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and only started offering socially distanced outdoor visits in August.
Erika Fenley, wellness director of The Oaks at Braselton’s memory care unit, said the “hugging booth” was erected outside the building Wednesday, Aug. 26. She said the idea sparked after seeing a similar structure on Facebook. Soon afterward, Erika asked her husband, Jason Fenley, to build one.
Not wanting to back down from a challenge, Jason said he set to work constructing a hugging booth from a shower curtain, plastic tarp and wood. Erika said the required gloves for the structure – which the staff dispose of after every visit – are used in veterinarian clinics.