安全"擁抱亭"讓孤獨老人在疫情期間重感家庭溫暖
Some Texans are trying to relieve the loneliness and isolation that many elderly Americans are feeling during the coronavirus pandemic by creating safe "hugging booths."
一些德克薩斯人試圖緩解許多美國老人在新冠疫情期間的孤獨和隔離感，就發明了安全的“擁抱亭”。Amber Crenshaw and her husband Steve Crenshaw own a business called Handle With Care and work with Unlimited Care Cottages, an assisted living facility. Amber said she and her husband designed and built the hugging booths after one of the nurses suggested the idea.
安柏·克倫肖和她的丈夫斯蒂夫·克倫肖開辦了一家與“無限關懷小屋”養老院有合作的企業，名爲“用心善待”。安柏說，在養老院的一名護士提出建議後，她和丈夫設計建造了這種擁抱亭。"The residents have been, just so filled with joy," Amber said. "It was one of our resident's birthdays. We were able to set the booth up for their birthday, and family members were able to come in and give birthday hugs. It has really lifted the spirits of the assisted living residents."
安柏說：“養老院居民樂開了花。那天是其中一位居民的生日。爲了慶祝生日，我們建造了擁抱亭，家人得以前來擁抱壽星。擁抱亭讓養老院居民們精神大振。”
Buck Buckholtz, the owner of Unlimited Care Cottages, where the hugging booths have been used, said that the families were also excited.
採用擁抱亭的“無限關懷小屋”養老院的老闆巴克·巴克霍爾茨說，老人的家人們也很興奮。He said, "The families, there was a pretty quick response of, 'When can you bring it to this house? When can you bring it to this house? When are we going to have one?"
他說：“很快，他們的家人們就紛紛詢問：‘你們什麼時候可以在這個屋子安裝擁抱亭？什麼時候？我們何時能有一個擁抱亭？’”Amber said that she and her husband designed it to fit into a standard door without gaps, and built it with materials that coronavirus cannot transmit through, allowing family members to hug each other safely.
安柏說，她和丈夫的設計使其能無間隙地嵌入標準的門中，使用的建築材料令新冠病毒無法入侵，讓家人們可以安全地擁抱彼此。"Just the power of touch is so important because it's been since March since these family members and the residents at the homes have been able to touch and hug," she said. "Through this, we've been able to create an opportunity for them to reach out and have a touch. It's huge, it brings lots of joy."
“觸摸的力量太強大了，因爲自從三月以來這些養老院居民和他們的家人就沒有觸摸和擁抱過對方。通過擁抱亭，我們可以爲他們創造一個伸手擁抱的機會。這個機會很棒，還帶來了許多歡樂。”The Crenshaws have just worked with Unlimited Care so far, but they said other assisted living facilities in Texas have contacted them with interest.
到目前爲止克倫肖一家只和“無限關懷小屋”合作過，但他們表示德州的其他感興趣的養老院也聯繫了他們。
