"Now that they're tearing down this block, we're going to have to come into the real world and pay rent," said Jessica Lani Rich, society president and executive director.

The nonprofit organization, founded in 1997 by the Honolulu Rotary Club, now operates out of the Waikiki Shopping Plaza and is gearing up for additional fund raising to help cover the rent.

Rich, who didn't want to disclose the amount they'll need, isn't complaining. The society now works in a larger space that overlooks Kalakaua Avenue and has a reception area for visitors.

"What we originally thought was a very unpleasant change has actually turned out to be a blessing," she said.

The Visitor Aloha Society will be working on getting more government and foundation grants this year, Rich said.

The organization has a budget of about $270,000, including $145,000 from the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, foundation grants and in-kind donations from the visitor industry, which cover hotel rooms, meals and transportation, Rich said. Charley's Taxi, hotels and restaurants generously donate to the organization, she said, while Outrigger provided the society rent-free space since 1998.

The society has two full-time employees including Rich, three part-time workers, 50 volunteers and a 21-member board of directors.

In addition to generating more money, the organization is also working on getting the word out about what it does.

"People really do not realize how much good we do for visitors on a daily basis," Rich said. "We're in the front lines. When visitors are victimized, when their cars are stolen, when everything that they have is stolen, we step in and our volunteers are right there to assist them in everything that they need. We have people tell us on a daily basis, 'We don't know what we would do if we didn't have you.' "

The Visitor Aloha Society most recently worked with Washington residents John Streich and his daughter, Ashley, who survived a glider crash last week with minor injuries. The pilot died in the crash.

"It's a great, great organization," said Karen Streich. "I can't say enough about it. ... I just think without it people wouldn't know where to turn, what to do. Even little things, like finding a pharmacy at 10 o'clock at night — my husband basically wouldn't have gotten his pills because I wouldn't have known where to go or what to do. ... Jessica helped deflate that stress and make it just a smooth transition."

The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai'i, or VASH, also supported a Rhode Island family whose mother recently passed away while on vacation here. The family asked people to donate money to the organization in lieu of flowers, and "we're still getting small envelopes of money from the service," Rich said.

The organization also helped the wife of a San Francisco drowning victim arrange for his funeral. Rich visited with another widow whose husband died here and went to the mortuary with her.

"My personal mission is to make sure that for the majority of people who live in Hawai'i, if anything bad happens to a visitor, they know who to call," Rich said.

Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Kenison Tejada said the organization not only assists visitors in unfortunate situations but helps the image of Hawai'i's visitor industry.

"They're like the last solid link in the chain," he said. "If somebody gets in trouble over here, of course the police are going to respond, fire will respond and the emergency agencies will respond, but what really ties it together for the visitors is VASH."