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Whenever Barbara Meislin took the exit off Highway 101 to get to her house in Tiburon, she always gave some money to the homeless person standing near the base of the off-ramp.

Now, after a fire destroyed her home on Lyford Drive, Meislin finds herself homeless — but she isn’t asking for any money to rebuild or to replace her treasure trove of purple possessions.

Instead, the woman known as the “Purple Lady” is asking people to direct any donations toward impoverished Holocaust survivors and homeless ministries in Marin.

“I know what it’s like not to have a home,” Meislin, 74, said recently by phone from her hotel room at the Lodge at Tiburon. “I’m going to honor the life of the purple house and all of the work I’ve tried to do from there.”

Meislin, who is unsure if she will rebuild or rent, has long cast a wide net of philanthropic endeavors, from playgrounds in Israel to cancer research fundraising to a host of Jewish agencies.

Now, she is enlisting the help of Rabbi Lavey Derby of Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon and Pastor Doug Huneke of Westminster Presbyterian Church, who will both assist her as she reignites her philanthropic work. 

“I’m really doing exceptionally well,” Meislin said. “I have deep insights into what life is all about at this point. The thought that some very focused work will come out of this is giving me joy.”

In the days following the Oct. 21 fire, Meislin sifted through the charred remains of her three-story, 4,000-square-foot home, scavenging for anything she could salvage.

She uncovered two purple stones from Poland that her son, Ken Meislin, brought back for her. She found a small purple camel, a prize from a Cracker Jack box that her nephew gave to her, and a book inscribed to her by her longtime companion, Stuart Kaplan.

But it was the discovery of copies of her self-published book, “No One Can Ever Steal Your Rainbow” — which were housed in a cement-lined closet — that brought her the most happiness. 

“No One Can Ever Steal Your Rainbow” is based on experiences Meislin had following the death of her daughter Lori, who was 7 when she died from a rare viral infection in 1967.

“I don’t know how much more of a message a human being can get,” Meislin said of the find. “The books are still intact and that’s extraordinary. It tells me that I’m still to be doing this work.”

Meislin, who always dresses in shades of purple, surrounded herself with the color in her home. Not only was her house done up in lavender hues from the carpet to the wallpaper, but she slept on purple sheets and bathed in a purple tub.

Lately, Meislin has been calling herself “the Purple Phoenix.” She and her cousin, Irene Matza (who was staying with her), escaped safely after Meislin saw smoke rising from a floor vent and flames “shooting up” from a couch in the guest room. Meislin called 911 — from a landline, a tip she learned in a fire prevention course.

“It’s very real that I possibly could have not survived that fire if I had made one wrong decision,” she said.       

The blaze, which fire investigators said was started by a faulty furnace, caused some floors and at least part of the  roof to collapse.

Among the priceless items Meislin lost was a signed copy of President Barack Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope,” which arrived in the mail after she sent “No One Can Ever Steal Your Rainbow” to the White House.

“The fire has simplified my life in certain ways,” Meislin said. “It cleansed me of millions of files that I could never get ahead of. Though I didn’t quite ask for this dramatic of a cleansing, there are certain mysteries and secrets to life that you just can’t explain.”

Yet, the piles of paper are growing once again — at a rapid rate. Only this time, it’s colorful pictures of rainbows from children, and uplifting notes on purple paper from friends, strangers and organizations she’s involved in. Her voicemail and e-mail inbox have been flooded with messages.

“They say ‘smile, Purple Lady,’ and ‘keep on the rainbow road.’ ” Meislin said. “The whole community has covered me with love.”