The Institute for Human Services, with support from the state’s visitor industry, has started running a shuttle between Waikiki and its Iwilei shelter to help the tourist district’s unsheltered homeless residents get on the fast track to housing.

Dubbed Food and Shelter Transport, or FAST, the 25-passenger shuttle picks up on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at three Waikiki locations, headed for IHS.

If beds are open, clients can choose to stay. Otherwise, they can spend a few hours in Iwilei eating, showering, getting medical attention or being evaluated for permanent housing or the shelter’s airline relocation assistance program, which helps out-of-state clients with half the funds to return home.

The shuttle, funded by Hawaii’s visitor industry, is part of the aggressive IHS outreach that began in November with $100,000 in kickoff contributions from the Hawai‘i Lodging & Tourism Association. At the time, IHS Executive Director Connie Mitchell said the outreach program’s goal was to serve 300 homeless people the first year.

Of that total, IHS had hoped to place 140 individuals into shelters or homes and help another 120 return to homes outside Hawaii.

Kimo Carvalho, IHS director of community relations, said the nonprofit will meet those goals and more. Since November, IHS has gotten 81 Waikiki homeless people off the streets. Fifty have been placed into long-term housing in Waikiki, 25 have accepted a bed at the shelter and six have returned to their former homes on the mainland.

IHS’ Waikiki Outreach Team, which comprises four staffers assigned exclusively to the district, also serves 89 unsheltered Waikiki clients, working with them to get the paperwork and identification they need to be ready to be placed into shelter or housing.

“FAST is a powerful new tool in a multifaceted approach to substantively address homelessness in Waikiki, and it’s already making a big difference,” said Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “The Institute for Human Services has been a key partner in helping people experiencing homelessness on Oahu get the help they need to turn their lives around. The visitor industry has stepped up as well, contributing money to help keep a public restroom open 24/7 on Kuhio Beach and helping to fund IHS’ ramped-up outreach efforts, most recently the Food and Shelter Transport.”

Carvalho said IHS, along with the Hawaii Foodbank and Waikiki Health Care-AVan, also are gearing up for the April opening of a monthly outreach center at St. Mary’s Church in Moiliili.

Once the center is running, the shuttle, which was donated by Discover Hawaii Tours, also will provide rides Thursdays between Waikiki and Moiliili.

“Transportation is one of the largest barriers to homeless clients accessing services,” Mitchell said.

Since the shuttle softlaunched on Feb. 23, IHS has had 28 new Waikiki clients aboard the shuttle to shower, receive mail, eat a meal, get clean clothes and sign up for health care, employment and housing services. Six of those clients have chosen to stay at the shelter.

“Overall it’s been a positive experience that has changed preconceptions of the shelter for those who have come to IHS thus far,” Mitchell said.

Leonard Freitas, a 59-yearold man who has been homeless in Waikiki for about five years, rode the shuttle for the seventh time Friday.

“A lot of homeless people know where IHS is and how to get there. But it really means something when they are willing to come look for you,” Freitas said. “This is personal to me. They’ve made me feel like I’m more than a client.”

The former king crab fisherman and cabinet builder said he moved to Hawaii from Alaska in 2001 and fell into homelessness when his health deteriorated. Freitas, who suffers from a heart condition, said medical concerns coupled with the city and police crackdown on homelessness in Waikiki have made it necessary for him to get back into permanent housing. Since losing his HUD housing for the fifth time, he’s been sleeping in a commercial parking deck.

“The garage is protected FREE Iris Branch from the rain. I thank God for that,” he said. “It’s getting to the point that if there’s a bed at IHS, I’d stay there. But what I really want is a permanent residence.”

After his 12th ride, Freitas will need to stay in the shelter or work with a housing counselor before being allowed to reboard, Carvalho said. “We want to give people enough time to check out our services, but eventually we want them to make a commitment to getting housed. We know our clients have many different needs, and we want to help.”

Adrienne Connolly, who has been homeless in Waikiki since 1990, took IHS’ shuttle for the first time Friday. She said she was looking forward to a hot shower, a meal and some help with paperwork.

“I’m turning 62 in July, and I need to get this identification thing going so that I can get my Social Security,” Connolly said. “I got my Social Security card at 13 — I’ve been working that long. I did retail work, janitorial work, bookkeeping, and I don’t want to miss out on my benefits. I need them.”

Carvalho said IHS’ expanded services are designed to help Waikiki’s homeless get the help they need, while working with the visitor industry to ensure the state’s main economic engine continues to thrive.

“Helping out Waikiki benefits the whole state,” he said.

George Szigeti, president and CEO of HLTA, said Waikiki’s economic importance cannot be denied.

“Waikiki is our epicenter.

It hosts 90,000 of the 211,000 visitors who are in Hawaii on any given day,” Szigeti said. “We need to make sure that it’s clean and safe for visitors and for residents, and that our homeless individuals are getting the assistance that they need.”

Jerry Gibson, area vice president of Hilton Hawaii, said that’s why the visitor industry is planning to further support IHS’ Waikiki efforts with a fundraising concert, which will be held May 9 at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

“This is the first concert that we’ve done for the aina, and we hope to raise at least $1 million,” Gibson said. “We are calling it ‘Hawaii for Hawaii’ because homelessness affects everyone in Hawaii no matter what island that you live on.”

Still, statistics show that Waikiki has been particularly hard hit.

“In addition to the Waikiki regulars, we see a lot of tourists falling into homelessness,” said Justin Phillips, team leader for IHS’ Waikiki Outreach. “People come and their plans don’t work out or they can’t find a place. They stay at hotels until they run out of money.”

Carvalho said the 2015 Point-in-Time-Count of Waikiki’s unsheltered homeless population hasn’t been made official. However, he said, it’s slightly higher than the 321 homeless individuals counted on a particular January day in 2014.

“We found that there were a lot more new faces,” he said. “Waikiki is attractive to homeless people for many of the same reasons that it’s a top tourist destination.”