Our causes
We don’t run a foundation. We support four good ones.
Four organizations Aaron gives to. Every button on this page opens that organization’s own donation page — your gift goes straight to them. Nothing passes through Vaughn Custom Homes, and we don’t take a cut of anything.
Native land and habitat
Native Plant Society of TexasHomes for people who need them
Habitat for Humanity, Comal CountyThe personal one
Alley Cat AlliesWhere our dog came from
Charming Pet Rescue
Why these four
Two of them follow from the work. Two of them are just Aaron.
Every house we build starts by disturbing a piece of Hill Country that was doing fine without us — cedar, live oak, grasses and wildflowers that took a long time to settle where they are. Learning what belongs back on that ground afterward is the least a builder can do, and the Native Plant Society is who teaches it.
The second one is simpler. We build homes for people who can afford to hire a builder; Habitat builds them for people who can’t. The last two have nothing to do with houses at all — Aaron has been taking in animals since he was a boy on the farm, and one of the two is where his own dog came from. That is the entire argument, and we’re comfortable with it.
Native land and habitat
Native Plant Society of Texas
Statewide, with local chapters — state office in Fredericksburg
The Society works to promote the conservation, research and use of the native plants and plant habitats of Texas. Most of that happens through local chapters — New Braunfels, Boerne, Kerrville, San Antonio and a Hill Country chapter among them — which run their own meetings, field trips and plant sales.
Statewide, they keep a native plant database you can search by region, teach a Native Landscape Certification Program for people who want the material properly rather than off a garden-center tag, and run monarch conservation work. They also fund scholarships and research grants.
For anyone building or landscaping out here, it is the most useful group we know of: they will tell you what actually belongs on your dirt, which is a shorter and better list than what will survive on it.
I must admit, I was oblivious to Texas native plants until they became a passion of my kiddo. He taught me so much about these plants, that they have become a passion of mine, too. Our yard is proof.
Opens npsot.org in a new tab. Your donation is made to them directly — we never handle it.
Their work includes
- Local chapters across Texas
- Searchable native plant database
- Native Landscape Certification Program
- Monarch conservation and milkweed resources
- Scholarships and research grants
Homes for people who need them
Habitat for Humanity, Comal County
Comal County, Texas — our own county
Comal County Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes alongside partner families here, as their answer to the affordable housing crisis in this county rather than an abstract one somewhere else. Beyond new builds, they run a home repair program for existing homeowners and a ReStore.
They also accept gifts-in-kind — building materials and professional services — which they say cuts the cost of their builds, repairs and ReStore every year. That is a language a builder understands.
We build houses for people who are able to hire a builder. Habitat builds them for people who are not. Those two things belong on the same street.
I have donated unused construction materials to H4H since 1994, and work on a few of their projects myself. Fun fact: it was not President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter who founded H4H, as many believe. It was founded by Millard and Linda Fuller in 1976. The Carters' early, hands-on involvement made them its most famous advocates.
Opens comalhabitat.org in a new tab. Your donation is made to them directly — we never handle it.
Their work includes
- New home builds with partner families
- Home repair program for existing homeowners
- ReStore
- Gift-in-kind materials and professional services
- Volunteer build days
The personal one
Alley Cat Allies
National, with local resources you can search by area
Alley Cat Allies advocates for cats — house cats, community cats, and the people who look after them. A lot of their work is trap-neuter-return: publishing the research behind it and speaking up when a local rule would shut a program down.
They also keep a resource tool that points people to low-cost spay and neuter clinics, cat food banks and financial help near them, publish care guides for anyone who has found a kitten and does not know what to do next, and run disaster response for cats when a storm or a water crisis hits.
There is no clever business reason for this one. Aaron is a cat person, and he is not going to pretend otherwise on his own website.
As an only child, cats have always been a source of comfort and companionship for me. I spent my summers on the farm taming feral cats to place in good homes. I have a big heart for animals, both domestic and wild.
Opens alleycat.org in a new tab. Your donation is made to them directly — we never handle it.
Their work includes
- Trap-neuter-return research and advocacy
- Community Resource Tool for local help
- Cat care resource library
- Disaster response for cats and caregivers
Where our dog came from
Charming Pet Rescue
Boerne, Texas — Kendall County
Charming Pet Rescue rescues, rehabilitates and rehomes abandoned and neglected dogs and cats, with a particular focus on pets at risk in overcrowded shelters. They are a small operation run on volunteers rather than a large staff, which is visible the moment you turn up.
You can meet the animals in person at their open house every Saturday from 10am to 2pm, or fill out an adoption application during the week and they will be in touch. They also take fosters and volunteers, which for a rescue this size matters about as much as money does.
One practical note from their own site: there are two streets with the same name in Boerne, so search the rescue by name in your maps app rather than typing the address.
We discovered this place when searching for a new dog after losing our 20-year-old companion the previous year. We found Charming Pet Rescue, and were so impressed with the owner's genuine compassion and first-rate operation, fueled by volunteers. Many cats available, too!
Opens charmingpetrescue.org in a new tab. Your donation is made to them directly — we never handle it.
Their work includes
- Dog and cat adoptions
- Pulls pets at risk in overcrowded shelters
- Fostering program
- Volunteer program
- Saturday open house, 10am–2pm
Plain talk
We collect nothing, and we’re nobody’s sponsor.
There is no donation form on this page and there won’t be one. Every button above leaves our site and lands on that organization’s own page, where they take your gift directly. We never touch it, never count it, and take no cut.
None of these four has partnered with us, sponsored us, or endorsed us, and we’d never suggest otherwise. Aaron supports them. That’s the whole of it.
Know a Hill Country group doing work like this? Tell Aaron — aaron@VaughnCustomHomes.us.
While you’re here
If it’s a house you came to talk about, we can do that too.
Aaron answers his own phone. Tell him about your lot, your plan, or the idea you haven’t written down yet — Canyon Lake, Fischer, Spring Branch, New Braunfels and Blanco.