We brought solar power to Buckhorn Children and Family Services (BCFS) in Kentucky. BCFS is a sanctuary of health, healing, and hope for young people from troubled backgrounds. As an organization, BCFS takes in severely abused and neglected children and youth from across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, providing them with the necessary tools to embrace their individual capacities to heal.
Project Overview:
Every single day, Buckhorn Children and Family Services (BCFS) provides critical services to over 200 children and youth who have come from diverse backgrounds marked by immense challenges. These young individuals have faced the painful realities of parental drug abuse, attempted suicide, sexual abuse, self-harm, and multiple psychiatric hospitalizations. BCFS takes a compassionate and comprehensive tri-phasic approach, rooted in trauma-informed care, to address their complex needs. In this nurturing environment, each child is given the opportunity to reclaim their health, experience healing, and embrace hope.
Through the collaborative efforts of Everybody Solar, a transformative change was brought to BCFS. A 20.48 kW ground-mounted solar array now stands proudly at Roger's Cottage, where electricity bills during winter months used to soar up to $1,445. This solar installation has made a profound impact, significantly offsetting a substantial portion of these costs and resulting in noteworthy savings for BCFS. The financial relief derived from these savings has been strategically directed towards enhancing and expanding their programs and services for the children and youth they passionately serve. Over the projected lifespan of the solar system, it is estimated that Buckhorn Children and Family Services will save an average of $2,500 per year, amounting to a total of over $60,000. These substantial savings directly support BCFS's overarching mission of providing healing and growth opportunities to at-risk children.
By rallying behind this solar project, individuals have provided a renewed chance to heal, thrive, and break free from the adversities they have faced by the youth served at BCFS.
According to the Ernie Weems, BCFS Vice President of Operations and Finance, “Lighting, heating and cooling are ongoing concerns for operations…. utilizing an energy efficient strategy for lights is an immediate goal … It would be a blessing to take our entire campus infrastructure into the 21st century with energy saving devices and solar panels.”
THANK YOU to individuals and organizations who have made contributions to help bring solar to Buckhorn Children and Family Services!
Special Thanks to....
Anonymous, Anne Warmerdam, Benjamin Delman, Brigid Warmerdam, Carolyn McInnes, David Ellis, Drew Enamait, Ellen & Neil MacNeale, Emmett Miranker, Ericka Guzman, Frances Stewart, Heather Saunders, Jonathan Solari, Kathryn Cryts, Kelly Balaban, Madeleine Seneor, Michael Kraft, Michelle Fong, Mike Buffo, Phillip Woolery, Polly Wingfield, Sammus Prehn, Stacey Thornberry, Sravant Lavu, Susan Gordon, Tamir Lance.
and corporate donors... Gumerlock Family Foundation, The Solar Moonshot Program (managed by Hammond Climate Solutions and funded by Left Coast Fund), Trader Joe's Knob Hill SF, MaxSolar, Tonic San Francisco, Patagonia SF.
