A small yet mighty team of volunteers make up a nonprofit group in Irmo which dedicates time to helping Irmo citizens within town limits with minor house and yard repairs.

Irmo Outreach has operated as a 501c3 nonprofit for a few years now and founder Wade DeLoach is looking to recruit younger volunteers to keep the organization running for years to come.

With the upcoming school year lingering and calendars filling up, DeLoach said the fall season is slim for volunteers.

“From September through January, volunteers are harder to get,” DeLoach said at an interest meeting at Bart’s Crazy Good Coffee one Saturday. “That’s the biggest need right now.”

Currently, the nonprofit has about 23 volunteers to run around and work and five members to carry out the vision. In that mix is DeLoach and another volunteer who have electrical and plumbing knowledge and expertise.

Additionally, the group also does simple yard work such as mowing lawns and other minor house repairs. According to DeLoach, they help the elderly, first responders, military families and anyone else who needs help due to physical abilities, financial abilities or mental abilities.

DeLoach also said that they also help out in neighborhoods with no homeowners association (HOA) and miscellaneous town improvement projects.

Since the organization was formed by the previous Irmo mayor, it does not have to get permission from Irmo Town Council for improvements. Budget is also a consideration, DeLoach said.

One of the biggest obstacles the nonprofit has is funding, DeLoach told people at the interest meeting. The group also needs a storage trailer for supplies and equipment which are currently stored at DeLoach’s house. The group has one storage trailer for lawn equipment but an additional trailer would allow the volunteers to go from home to home without having to stop and go back to DeLoach’s for other supplies.

If anyone knows of someone who needs assistance, they can head to the website, www.irmooutreach.help to fill out an application.

DeLoach told the Chronicle that after an application is filled out, it’s reviewed and the site is evaluated to see if the home qualifies and if there are volunteers who can help out.

Within a week or two is when they can come out. Sometimes it may take up to a month depending on volunteers and when they are able to come out. Something simple like mowing a lawn, however, wouldn’t likely take very long for someone to get out there and do.

Since the group helps service the town’s citizens for free, there have been times when they’ve been taken advantage of. DeLoach said they don’t do rental homes as people will want some sort of repair and then turn around to sell the home.

“We don’t repair homes up for sale or will be for sale,” DeLoach said. “No rentals repairs. We may help cut grass but no repairs.”

The group began officially a few years back (and unofficially in 2019) when DeLoach said people would get in trouble when ordinances relating to property conditions would pass without the property owner’s knowledge. He said they’d get a ticket or fine on top of other financial struggles or perhaps they were out of town due to being in the military.

“The blessings come with it and the gratitude makes it great,” DeLoach said.

There will be another interest meeting 10 a.m. Aug. 17 at Bart’s Crazy Good Coffee in Irmo.