BATON ROUGE – The COVID-19 vaccine won't be given out in nursing homes, and assisted living facilities in time to let families gather with their loved ones for Christmas this year.

It’s another tough holiday for residents who have gone months without hugging their family members. Even though residents at Amber Terrace assisted living are social distancing, handwritten letters from across the country are helping to keep spirits up.

“We got some from Texas, all over our state of Louisiana and we’ve gotten them from Fairfax, Virginia,” said Sharon Dykes, the Activities Director.

Dykes got a call a couple of weeks ago asking if her residents wanted some letters sent their way.

“I had forgotten, actually, and it’s been about three weeks and they said ‘Sharon you have some mail.’ It started stacking up,” said Dykes.

The letters say they’re coming from ‘Letters of Love’, but that’s all Dykes knows for sure right now. The nonprofit founder has not gotten back to her, or WBRZ.

One resident at Amber Terrace in a message said she was tickled to get a letter, and she thought it was sweet that they thought about them.

“Outside of us, they love us but you get tired of looking at the same person all the time. It really did touch their hearts, and ours too. I can’t believe this has really happened,” said Dykes.

In total, the facility has received around 100 letters from around the nation, and they’re still coming in.

Families are able to visit their loved ones at Amber Terrace, but they have to stand between a plastic wall to do so.