Some stories don't begin the way you planned them. This one certainly didn't...

Matt is a sixth generation Texan and was married for thirty-five years before losing his first wife. Holly grew up in Connecticut and lost her first husband of thirty-two years at around the same time. Grief has a way of arriving without warning and staying longer than anyone is prepared for — and for both of them, it did. They had each spent a few years navigating that long, quiet road that only those who have walked it truly understand, when they found each other in an online support group for widows and widowers. One conversation led to another, and before long Holly made a decision that still makes them smile to think about: "I have to meet this man and look into his eyes"... So, after clearing the "plan" with her "bestie" Kelly, (Matt's new "sister from another mister") she loaded Maggie — her beloved Basset Hound-Beagle mix — into the car, brought her son Josh along for the journey, and drove nearly 2,000 miles from Connecticut to Texas on faith and a feeling. It turned out to be exactly the right decision. They were married not long after, standing in front of the map of the world at Allies in Youth Development offices, officiated by Chris Burgin, an ordained minister, who also happens to be Allies in Youth Development's Founder and CEO, and is one of Matt's most trusted friends. Matt and Holly have never looked back.

What they couldn't have known then was how much that single act of courage — a woman and her son and her dog driving across the country toward something totally new and unknown — would set in motion everything that Butterfly Ranch Texas would become.

So, Holly's son Josh was around eighteen years old then when he lost his father. That kind of loss at that age carries its own particular weight — a young man suddenly fatherless, an orphan, navigating adulthood without the person who was supposed to walk alongside him through it. That is not said lightly, and it is no coincidence that the ranch they built together would eventually become a place whose mission centers on the fatherless and the rescued. Some things are simply too perfectly connected to be accidental.

Some would call it coincidence. Matt and Holly believe it was divine guidance.  

Around the time they married, Matt had found a small parcel of land in Texas — about fifteen acres — with the modest intention of just building a weekend cabin. A place to get away. A quiet retreat. A place to breathe. A place to go "fishin". When Holly flew down to witness him signing the papers, something between them shifted. The cabin became a conversation, and the conversation became a vision: sell out, start over, and build something together. 

Growing up, Josh called his mother "Mama Butterfly"... the name rang many bells in Matt's head. It was no longer a vision or dream to start over, it became reality. Butterfly Ranch was born. The weekend cabin project became a guesthouse — built first so they'd have a place to live while the main home went up. Four years later, the main home is complete and it is home. Holly and Matt live there now, alongside Buddy, Benny, Lady, Lil' Bit, and LuLu. Josh lives in the guesthouse with Buford and Lilly. Three additional parcels have been added over those four years, bringing the ranch to just over fifty acres. Two ponds became six. And the animals — well, you've met the animals. Their stories are all over this site, and every one of them is worth reading.

What they didn't fully anticipate was how much this place would come to feel like a sanctuary — not just for the animals, but for them. The donkeys and cattle pulled from kill pens. The dogs found dumped on roadsides or in shelters scheduled for euthanasia. The goats that appeared out of nowhere one afternoon, led by a distinguished old buck named Stan, as if they knew exactly where they were going. Every one of them carries a story of loss, rescue, and renewal. So do Matt and Holly. 

"We all feel like rescues here."

That is not a small thing to say, and it is not said lightly. It is simply the truth of this place — the thread that runs through every animal profile, with every bale of hay and every carrot or apple treat offered to a once-abused and frightened donkey learning slowly and on it's own terms to trust again. Starting over is very difficult. But it is not impossible. Butterfly Ranch Texas is living proof of that — fifty acres of second chances, built one day at a time, by two people who are profoundly grateful to be exactly where they are, together.

Faith is the foundation of everything here. They believe the animals in their care belong to God, and that they are simply their stewards. They believe that true religion, as James the Apostle described it, means advocating for the fatherless — and that conviction, alongside Josh's own story as an orphan himself, has led them into a deeper and more personal partnership with Allies in Youth Development, the organization dedicated to rescuing orphaned youth from a future of despair by providing human connection, life skills, and a pathway to education. One hundred percent of the proceeds from every steer raised and sold at Butterfly Ranch goes directly to Allies as a firstfruits offering. They simply want to give it with full and grateful hearts.

This is not a business. They don't accept donations, and they do not offer animals for adoption — with the sole exception of the steers, with the proceeds going directly to support the Allies mission. This is simply a way of life — full of purpose, full of grace, and fuller every single day — forged by two people God put together and granted the vision to persevere, together. Matt and Holly just want to share Allies and Butterfly Ranch with you. Enjoy your stay!