OAKLAND -- Blair Hippolyte was walking four of her dogs on a sunny October morning in 2002, in her East Oakland neighborhood, when she heard gunshots. As she arrived at her apartment she noticed yellow tape on the other side of the street. Moving closer, she saw her boyfriend's body lying motionless on the sidewalk.

Hippolyte had been living in public housing with her boyfriend, whom she said had gotten mixed up with drugs. Her life had been difficult before, but her boyfriend's death was unbearably traumatic.

In the following weeks she said she put a gun to a man's head who had been harassing her dogs. She stopped paying her rent, and eventually got evicted. She left her house with her dog, Dede, and 9 puppies.

For the next four years she would be one of the 6,000 homeless people living in Alameda County. Social workers and other experts often point to a multitude of reasons for the plight of the urban homeless: Unemployment, disability, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of education and job training, mental and emotional distress - the factors are as complex as they are numerous.

In some ways, Hippolyte's traumatic experiences, recounted during a recent interview and illuminated further by others who know her, is not unlike that of many other homeless people.

Hippolyte was 33 at the time of her boyfriend's death and was receiving social security insurance because a psychiatrist had diagnosed her with schizophrenia.

"I think Blair has some mental issues as we probably all do," she said. "I would never call her crazy. Everybody has their demons. Some of hers other people couldn't deal with."

Hippolyte said she has had a number of confrontational run-ins with a variety of people in her life. But she possesses a palpable ebullience and intelligence. She's an avid reader and once organized the donation of a number of pianos to her public housing community.

She has always had an affinity for animals. Her frequent walks down her block with numerous dogs and kittens trailing behind her prompted neighbors to dub her "Dr. Doolittle."

Scotland attributes some of Hippolyte's problems to her brash nature. "She'll always speak her mind," Scotland said. "Sometimes there's a time and place for the truth and Blair didn't always know when she should say what. And that's caused a lot of pain for a lot of people."

After being evicted, Hippolyte sought refuge at the house of a cousin, who told her she had to give the puppies to animal control. Hippolyte refused, choosing instead to spend her nights in parks.

While sleeping in bushes by Longfellow School one night, she said, she awoke to a man sexually assaulting her. The next day nearby dope dealers saw how black her eyes were and started watching out for her. The owner of a nearby detail shop told her she could sleep in a car on his lot. She sold the puppies, one by one, for about $15 each, but kept Dede.

During this time she also stopped taking her medication because it made her sleepy, she said, and when she was on the street she had to be alert and "have her head clear."

Before her boyfriend died Hippolyte had only smoked marijuana, she said, but she began using crack while staying in the car. She also said she sometimes procured money through prostitution.

"I felt like I was worthless," she said. "It's such a shame that I felt like that." Of her decision to turn to prostitution Hippolyte said, "I can't stand people touching on me. But when you're hungry you do what you gotta do."

She searched for her dog for a month. When she realized she wouldn't find Dede she went to a shelter in Oakland. She became romantically involved with a man she met there, but when he started abusing her, she left, she recalled. Scotland bought her a ticket to Atlanta, where her brother lived.

Her brother's wife didn't want her living with them in Atlanta, though, so she stayed at a hotel with a boyfriend who sold drugs for a living. She flew back home to the Bay Area a year later when she found out he was wrongfully telling people she would pay off his debts.

When she returned to Oakland, in November, she stayed with her mother and stepfather for several months. After a fight with her stepfather over her social security money, her mother told her to leave. She went to the Berkeley women's shelter.

When she got in a fight with the manager there, she was thrown out and went to People's Park, where her boyfriend stayed. It took a while for her to learn the peculiar system of surviving in the streets - where to get a shower and where to get food - but at least she didn't have to worry about anyone kicking her out. In the winter she stayed up all night and slept during the day, when it was warmer.

"She's a hustler," Scotland said. "She'll get out there and find out what's available to her and survive. Its amazing what she's gone through the past few years and that's she's been able to stay alive."

At one point, Hippolyte said, she was arrested for buying crack and spent several months in jail. In August of 2005 she was arrested for getting in a fight and spent six months in Santa Rita jail because she had violated her probation.

While there she took part in D.E.U.C.E., a 60-day substance abuse program. An instructor of the program, Kathy Lee, helped her get her self esteem back, Hippolyte said. Hippolyte also took an employment class.

Hippolyte spent a month in the Winter Shelter in Oakland and then moved in with a friend. When she returned to her psychiatrist, and told him she hadn't taken medication in four years, he told her she might as well not start now.

Hippolyte eventually moved into Menlo Hotel, in downtown Oakland, where she lives currently. It costs $600 a month, a sum that eats most of her social security check.

Hippolyte is back on her feet for the time being. She recently became a certified Red Cross volunteer and is currently looking for work as a caretaker for disabled persons.

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