A correction to an earlier version of this article has been appended to the end of the article.

The first night out on the streets, Leslie Banks lost all hope.

Looking for refuge and a safe place to sleep, Banks curled up in a park with a sleeping bag and her bike. She fell asleep only to be awakened by the sprinklers in the middle of the night.

With her clothes drenched, she felt the sting of the cold air. She cried and couldn’t stop. She had a thought: “Maybe someone will come and I’ll get lucky and somebody will kill me.”

Banks experienced homelessness for almost 17 years. But now, the 59-year-old has secured a job, a safe place to call home and a burning desire to help those who were just like her.

“Trinity Center means everything for me,” Banks said. “If it wasn’t for Trinity, I’d still be homeless out on the street.”

Trinity Center Walnut Creek operates a weekday program for adults and transitional-age youth in need of safety-net services. It also operates an overnight winter shelter with 50 beds. The center provides a place for homeless people to take a shower, do laundry, receive mail and access a computer.

The organization received funding this year from Share the Spirit, an annual holiday campaign that serves residents in need in the East Bay. Donations will help support 56 nonprofit agencies in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. Trinity Center plans to use its grant to provide hearty dinners, gifts and gift cards during the holidays.

Before she found Trinity Center, Banks’ only option for a shower was to poke holes in a 2-liter bottle of water and douse herself in a park. Sometimes, she’d find a public park bathroom with a drain on the floor, strip down and take “a bird bath.”

“When I finally did get a shower (at Trinity Center), I didn’t want to come out. The warm water felt so good,” Banks said.

Banks grew up in a middle-class home in a suburb of Chicago. She lived with her mom, grandmother and sister. Her family was so close-knit that her cousins were more like brothers and sisters.

“Being homeless was never in my vocabulary,” Banks said. “I never knew any homeless people. I never saw homeless people from where I lived.”

Married and divorced twice, Banks began her path to homelessness in Washington after her then-boyfriend went to prison for gun possession.

“It was his house, so I got booted out,” Banks said.

As a last resort, Banks moved from Washington to California to be with the boyfriend’s family. But Banks said it wasn’t a good situation so she didn’t stay long.

She took to the streets.

“You have to toughen up,” Banks said. “You have to think about where you’re going to sleep that night.”

While homeless, Banks said she had to be strategic about where to sleep. She stayed close to neighborhoods because if anything happened, someone could hear her scream.

Leslie Banks cleans in the shower and laundry area she manages at Trinity Center Walnut Creek. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

“Growing up my mom always told me, as soon as it gets dark, you better get your butt home or you’re going to get raped or killed,” Banks said. “It’s implanted in my brain.”

Banks lost several family possessions throughout her unstable journey. When the motor home she briefly lived in was impounded and destroyed, items that belonged to her grandmother were long gone, fraying the relationship she had with her mom.

The various name changes from marriage and divorce also created a hurdle for Banks. Banks said she lived without an ID for 10 years after her purse was stolen. No ID meant she couldn’t secure a job or housing. Her birth certificate was in Illinois, and she had trouble getting it mailed to California.

The paperwork, the endless phone appointments to government offices led to frustration and discouragement.

“Just to get a hold of the right people, it was crazy,” Banks said.

At Trinity Center, the volunteers helped her get a California ID. That was the first step in the right direction. She volunteered to do gardening at the church next to Trinity, then started helping out in the shower and laundry rooms at the center.

Now, she’s been working at Trinity Center for almost seven years.

Banks is no longer hopeless and distraught. She has a positive, radiant energy.

“She’s a beautiful example of how things can change,” said Leslie Gleason, director of Trinity Center.

In early 2020, Banks was able to move into a home. She lives in a studio apartment within St. Paul’s Commons, located above the Trinity Center. St. Paul’s Commons, which is owned by the nonprofit Resources for Community Development, is a permanent, affordable housing community.

“It’s a lot safer,” Banks said. “I have electricity. I can see at night when it gets dark. I have a bathtub now so I can soak in a bathtub if I want.”

On a quiet Wednesday afternoon in late October, Banks managed the front desk of the shower area. Anyone in need of a shower can sign up during the day, and Banks made the space festive with spooky Halloween decorations to greet people who walked through the door.

“We can always count on Leslie to beautify the space,” Gleason said.

Banks, with her braided pigtails, wore a white lab coat and blue latex gloves. A blue surgical mask hid a bright smile. She grabbed a travel-sized bottle of shampoo, conditioner and body wash along with a towel for a man to take a shower in one of the three rooms.

“I can help people now,” Banks said. “I like helping them because I remember how it was for me.”