On January 31, 2026, fire swept through the educational building and gymnasium on the Dessie Scott campus in Pine Ridge, Kentucky. The spaces where the boys learned daily life skills, attended classes, exercised, and found moments of normalcy—gone.
These children have no families able to care for them. They have no other facility willing to take them. They have nowhere else to go. What was lost in that fire was not just a building. It was the framework of their daily healing.
“Let us rise up and build.”
Boys ages 12 to 21 on the autism spectrum or with developmental and intellectual disabilities. They arrive from deeply broken places—painful pasts they didn’t choose but bravely carry. Many have been moved from placement to placement. Some have never known safety or stability.
Individualized treatment plans designed to help them grow socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Individual and group counseling, daily life skills curriculum, recreational engagement, peer connections, and family sessions when possible. Qualified mental health professionals, counselors, a campus nurse and dietitian, and dedicated direct care staff.
The fire destroyed the spaces where the boys attended school, received specialized programming, exercised, and experienced the structured routine essential to their healing. Without these spaces, critical programming has been disrupted at the worst possible moment for Kentucky’s most vulnerable children.
On the night of October 7, 1940, fire broke out at the Little’s Creek Mission and Children’s Home in the mountains of Little, Kentucky. The remote location meant proper help could not reach the mission in time.
The fire originated in the two-story girls’ dormitory—the sleeping quarters for eleven girls ranging in age from two to nine and their caretaker. Two children escaped before the stairs became engulfed in flames. Nine little girls remained trapped on the second floor as their caretaker frantically tried to save them from the inferno.
That caretaker was Dessie Scott. She was twenty-three years old. She had left her Washington, Pennsylvania home just one month before to volunteer at the mission. She was a graduate of the Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, New York—the first Bible college in the United States.
After all efforts to rescue the trapped children proved futile, Dessie leaped from a second-story window. She suffered second- and third-degree burns, cuts, bruises, and a cerebral hemorrhage from the fall. She fought bravely but succumbed to her injuries two days later, on October 9, 1940.
Dessie Scott was just shy of twenty-four when she died in faithful service. During her short life, she was a daughter, a Christian, a student, a missionary, and a heroine—a worthy example for all to follow. Now, eighty-six years later, fire has struck again at the home that bears her name. And once again, the community is being asked to rise up and rebuild.
When Nehemiah learned that the wall around Jerusalem lay in ruins, he didn’t begin with strategy. He began with grief. He wept. Then he traveled to see the damage himself. Then he asked his neighbors to pick up their trowels and rebuild—not alone, but together, each family taking responsibility for the section of wall nearest their home.
The wall was rebuilt in 52 days—because an entire community picked up their trowels (Nehemiah 4:6). Every family. Every trade. Every willing hand. Now we are asking you to pick up yours.
That is the model for this campaign. Buckhorn has run Nehemiah volunteer projects for years—mission teams who come to campus, pick up tools, and work alongside our staff. Now, in the wake of this fire, the Nehemiah story is no longer just a name for our volunteer program. It is our blueprint. We are asking every congregation, every family, every individual, every willing hand to take up their section of the wall. Let us rise up and build.
Nehemiah was a cupbearer—a trusted person who carried something vital to those with the power to act. Our Cupbearers are friends of Buckhorn who carry the Dessie Scott story to congregations and communities in person.
Each family rebuilt the section nearest their home. Each congregation, each family, each individual can adopt a specific piece of the rebuild—a classroom, a therapy room, recreation equipment—and see their impact firsthand.
They worked with a trowel in one hand. Our campaign newsletter—The Trowel—keeps every partner informed on the rebuild’s progress, because you deserve to see what your hands are building.
The wall was rebuilt in 52 days. Not by professionals. By neighbors. That’s the spirit of Rebuild. Restore. Rise.—ordinary people doing an extraordinary thing because they refused to look away.
Whether you give, organize, visit, or volunteer—you become part of the rebuild. Here are four ways to do exactly that.
A one-time or recurring financial gift at any level. Every dollar goes directly to serving these children and rebuilding their future. Give online or by check.
A leadership gift of $10,000 or more includes naming recognition in the new facility and a permanent place in Buckhorn’s story. These gifts anchor the rebuild.
Rally your church, workplace, civic club, or community group to collect supplies, host a fundraiser, or dedicate a special offering. We provide everything you need to get started.
Join a Nehemiah volunteer week—come to campus, work on the rebuild, and become an ambassador for these children in your community.
Every gift—at every level—translates directly into something tangible for these children.
Furnishes one child’s interim classroom with supplies, adaptive materials, and the tools needed to keep education going during the rebuild.
Replaces specialized therapeutic equipment—sensory materials, communication aids, and behavioral support tools—lost in the fire.
Covers one full month of temporary recreational and therapeutic programming while permanent facilities are rebuilt.
Provides a full year of specialized care, therapeutic services, and daily support for one child at Dessie Scott.
A leadership investment that anchors the rebuild. Includes naming recognition in the new facility and a permanent place in Buckhorn’s story.
A transformational gift that rebuilds a major component—a classroom wing, the gymnasium, or therapeutic suite. Your legacy, built into these walls.
Gifts of $50,000 or more provide the opportunity to name a major facility component. Contact us to discuss your vision for these children’s future.
Buckhorn has been connected to the Presbyterian Church since 1902. Through our covenant with the Synod of Living Waters, the church has committed that the care of troubled and suffering children is a vital mission. Today, we ask our church family to answer that call.
Dedicate a single Sunday’s offering to the Dessie Scott rebuild. We provide a bulletin insert and a 60-second script for the pastor. A session can approve this in five minutes.
Commit one month’s mission budget to Buckhorn. We provide weekly bulletin updates with stories and progress from the rebuild. A Cupbearer will visit your congregation to share the story in person.
Adopt a specific element of the rebuild—a classroom, therapy room, recreation equipment. Your congregation receives progress photos, a dedication opportunity, and permanent recognition.
Our Cupbearers are friends of Buckhorn—board members, supporters, and advocates who care about these children—and they can bring the Dessie Scott story to your congregation in person. They come not to make a sales pitch, but to tell the truth about who these children are, what happened, and what it would mean if your church chose to rise up with us.
Schedule a VisitA Princeton Seminary graduate from Brooklyn, Murdoch traveled through eastern Kentucky and decided to stay, saying simply: “The need is greater there.” With local people contributing logs, lumber, shingles, coal, nine acres of land, $140, and 125 days of labor, he built a church, a school, and an orphanage.
Founded as a Christian “college” including grades K–12, Witherspoon graduated thousands of Appalachian students from isolated communities. Murdoch’s Log Cathedral—still an active Presbyterian church—remains a National Register landmark.
The Little’s Creek Mission and Children’s Home opened in a remote area of Breathitt County—two dormitories and a schoolhouse, accessible only by wagon or the L&N railroad. It served orphan children in one of the most isolated corners of Appalachia.
On October 7, 1940, fire engulfed the girls’ dormitory. Nine children perished, along with their caretaker Dessie Scott, who gave her life trying to save them. She was 23. The mission was immediately renamed in her honor—a testament to selfless courage that still defines the organization’s identity.
The mission relocated to Pine Ridge, Kentucky, in Wolfe County, where it has operated continuously ever since. As public schools came to the region, Buckhorn pivoted to caring for dependent children—continuing Murdoch’s mission in a new form.
A formal Memorandum of Understanding established the partnership between the Synod of Living Waters and the Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency. The Synod committed that “when special needs arise,” it would “receive and act on requests for special offerings.”
Over 120 years later, Buckhorn serves more than 1,000 families each year across five program areas, providing a full continuum of care to Kentucky’s most at-risk children. The mission Rev. Murdoch planted in these mountains continues to grow.
Therapeutic care for youth with developmental delays and trauma, including the Dessie Scott campus.
Qualified foster parents providing stable, loving homes while children receive trauma treatment.
Intensive in-home interventions to build parenting skills and keep children safely in their homes.
Recovery programming that serves the entire family, helping adults gain skills and tools to remain in recovery.
Quality physical and mental health services helping clients manage health issues and participate fully in their communities.
Years of continuous service to Kentucky’s children
Families served each year across Kentucky
At-risk youth currently in care
Integrated program areas providing a continuum of care
Buckhorn Children & Family Services operates as the Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with audited financials, state licensing, and a covenant relationship with the Synod of Living Waters of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Your gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
The wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt in 52 days because the people had a mind to work. These children cannot wait. Every dollar you give today goes directly toward restoring the spaces where Kentucky’s most vulnerable children learn, heal, and grow.
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