JULIA TRIPP looks for herself in statistics on homeless women. Sometimes she sees herself, sometimes she doesn't. A former drug addict who lived in an abandoned building, Tripp can see herself in new data that says substance abuse was the primary reason for the homelessness of 10 percent of single women in shelters in 2003, and that 11 percent had come from living in streets, cars, parks, or abandoned buildings.

But the finding that chronically homeless women are more likely to leave the streets than men falls outside her experience. Tripp was homeless on and off for a decade -- and wary of shelters where she says male staff and guests were ''predatory." She describes her own past physical and emotional abuse and depression.

For a time, her social network was other drug addicts. Some women can rely on family support. Tripp recalls asking one of three drug-addicted sisters why their mother continued to let them live at home. The answer, ''because she loves us," was crushing for Tripp, making her feel more acutely alone.

Now Tripp works at the University of Massachusetts at Boston as a constituent coordinator, pulling in members of the communities that her colleagues research, including homeless people. She relies on ''on-the-job-training" and what amounts to a PhD in ''street survival." She spoke recently about the faces behind the numbers at a university forum sponsored by the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and the Center for Social Policy. They have jointly published new statistics on homeless women. The mix of numbers and personal experience promises to spark more effective and humane policies.

Tripp recalls walking in the cold waiting to get drugs. She heard about other homeless women who were raped and one who was killed. Her life changed when she got help from an organization that didn't require her to be drug-free. She lived in several shelters, one for women who were HIV positive. She praises the assistance she got from smart, compassionate case managers. And she praises therapy.

Her call for prevention is chilling, a reminder that she might have been spared more than a decade of degradation.

The policy challenge is to improve the statistics. The social challenge is helping women who may be mentally ill, self-defeating, angry, wounded, bitter, and, as Tripp notes, cognitively impaired from a mix of drugs, alcohol, street life, malnutrition, and trauma.

To deal with the realities of street life, the Friends of the Shattuck Shelter, a local non-profit organization, recently released ''Keeping Safe on the Streets." It is a how-to manual for service providers working with women who refuse to leave the streets. The manual doesn't solve homelessness, but it tries to reduce harm.

Drawing on the insights of providers who work with the homeless and on some 25 homeless women, the manual also gives advice about dangers such as partner violence and sexual assault.

One section warns that ''transactional sex," traded for drugs or money, is illegal, but then advises women who engage in these acts: to negotiate price up front to lessen the chance of confrontations that lead to violence; to be aware during hotel encounters of where exits are; to wear clothes and shoes that make it easy to get away; and to work with a partner or pretend to work with one to create at least a facade of security.

There is advice on personal hygiene, mental illness and medications, contacting the police to report being the victim of a crime, and clearing up one's own criminal record in order to feel comfortable dealing with the police.

The first 500 manuals have been distributed to street workers, emergency medical personnel, and the Boston Police Department. And Friends of the Shattuck Shelter is using funds from Boston's Emergency Shelter Commission to print 500 more copies and run a training session.

Reading the manual is depressing. But the unflinching effort to deal with the grimmest facts of homeless women's lives is essential. It is a way to build the trust that can eventually help women leave the streets.