We describe a novel method for long distance quantum communication in realistic, lossy photonic channels. The method uses single emitters of light as intermediate nodes in the channel. One electronic spin and one nuclear spin coupled via the contact hyperfine interaction in each emitter, provide quantum memory and enable active error purification. We show that the fixed, minimal physical resources associated with these two degrees of freedom suffice to correct arbitrary errors, making our protocol robust to all realistic sources of decoherence. The method is particularly well suited for implementation using recently-developed solid-state nano-photonic devices.