This recently formed national nonprofit has a mission, staff and a home base city. But it doesn’t have a permanent office.

That’s a big reason why Rudy Socha and Samantha Laros are touring the Charleston area, photographing houses listed for sale by real estate agents that might be converted to a headquarters locale.

“We would love to obtain a property we can use as both a residence to house our out-of-town visitors and a work office,” says Socha, founder and chief executive of Wounded Nature – Working Veterans. The nonprofit is putting down roots in metro Charleston.

Photo by Leroy Burnell

The Post and Courier

Rudy Socha is founder and chief executive of Wounded Nature – Working Veterans.

The organization’s objective is to navigate a ship along the East Coast, cleaning up rural beaches and estuaries and using rehabilitated veterans as workers. The ship housing the veterans and volunteer workers will use Charleston as its home port, according to Laros, who is communications director.

“Do you have a piece of property that you are not using, or can not rent or sell? By donating your property to a non-profit, you can turn your headache into someone else’s treasure,” she says.

Socha, who describes himself as a former Marine and entrepreneur, launched the group last year in Lorrain, Ohio. The move to Charleston is to be closer to the coast where the work will take place.

“We have been looking for a donated property in close proximity to the ocean — whether it be one of the remote beach areas or the waterfront downtown,” he says.

According to the group, there are at least three means by which an owner can donate property.

• Bestowing the property outright.

• Contributing his or her equity position, in other words how much money has been put into the house, while the non-profit takes over the mortgage to pay off remaining debt.

• Donating the use of the property for a set period of time, usually one year.

Donated property can be deducted from income taxes. According to information on www.donaterealestate.com, the fair market value can be deducted on property held more than a year. As a charitable contribution, the deduction is limited to 30 percent of an individual’s adjusted gross income.

According to Wounded Nature – Working Veterans, every time a property changes hands, there are benefits to the real estate industry.

“Each change of address means business for utility workers, decorators, retailers,” Laros says. “In the real estate arena, title officers, appraisers, attorneys and brokers all earn fees.”

A donated property can improve a nonprofit’s image and morale while reducing administrative overhead costs, the group says.

“We’ve been all over the place (looking),” Socha says. Possible sites could be beach houses that aren’t being used or property on the Charleston peninsula that’s been a residence or storefront, he says.

“It’s something that isn’t really done here,” Socha acknowledges. “I’ve seen it more in large cities.”

He hopes to change that.

Even if the organization doesn’t use a donated property, it can still accept the donation, then sell the property and use the funds to carry out its mission, according to Laros.

For more information on the organization, visit www.woundednature.org.

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com