The YWCA is evicting a tenant who complained publicly about assault, death threats, drugs and alleged prostitution in a housing residence run by the agency.

Patricia Huculak, a 39-year-old mother of two living in the YWCA's Riverdale apartment for battered women, received an eviction notice Wednesday afternoon that gives her until Aug. 31 to move out.

Huculak contacted the Toronto Sun last month, saying the Y ignored complaints women living there violently assaulted her and made death threats against her children.

Other tenants complained to the Sun about violence, assaults, drug use, prostitution, men living in that building and at another YWCA facility in North Toronto and that women there were forced to share shower facilities with transgendered men.

Police in 55 Division corroborated some of the claims, saying they make frequent calls to the Riverdale building on complaints ranging from assaults and drugs to prostitution.

Tenants told the Sun the YWCA has repeatedly failed to deal with their complaints and suggested those who do complain face retribution.

"Please do not print our names," a group of tenants wrote in a fax correspondence with the Sun late last month.

"Vocal women have been evicted in the past."

After receiving the eviction notice Wednesday, Huculak said she's terrified about what will happen to her and her children but said she feared repercussions and didn't wish to speak further.

"All the women who have given these complaints are the ones who ganged up on me and my kids," she said.

"The anxiety is high, the fear is high ... do we need to go and pack our suitcases and go to a shelter?" she said. "This is what I'm worried about."

YWCA's acting CEO, Sally Palmateer, said privacy considerations restricted what she could say about the case but insisted Huculak's eviction was unrelated to her bringing the story to the media.

Huculak's notice stated she is being evicted because "issues between (her) and a number of other tenants have escalated to the point that positive action must be taken."

It also stated notices are being served to a number of other women in the building.

Meanwhile, the other tenants say they have grown fearful about speaking out against the YWCA.

The YWCA sent a memo about media coverage of complaints to tenants on June 29 and posted it in both buildings advising the following:

"We do not wish to see these conflicts escalate any further and therefore we urge you to think carefully before making further contact with the media, even though you may feel your side of the story has not been told. You are, of course, free to do as you like but media contact can put you in the spotlight in an unfavourable light."

Some women contacted by the Sun viewed the memo as a threat, but requested anonymity in making the allegation.

"Many of us perceived the memo as a threat, as a way of putting us down and controlling us," said one tenant of a North Toronto YWCA building. "It was posted on the bulletin boards on each floor and put in everyone's mailbox."

Palmateer said she couldn't comment because it was "an internal matter ... the memo to tenants isn't really meant for the media."

Councillor Doug Holyday, who previously said that the province should yank funding to the YWCA if it can't properly manage its properties, still plans to approach the city's auditor general with the issue.

"On the surface, it doesn't sound right," he said yesterday.

"The complainant gets tossed and that doesn't sound like what should happen, but I don't know all the details. Maybe there's another side of the story, but I just think if something's amiss, someone has to look into it."

JENNY.YUEN@SUNMEDIA.CA

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TENANTS 'ALL FEEL VERY AFRAID'

Following an assault on a female tenant by another at a YWCA, staff called an April 28 tenant meeting to hear complaints. The following notes were recorded by tenant representatives. Names have been withheld to protect their identity.

TENANT A:

"We all feel very afraid and insecure right now. There have been two other physical assaults in the building."

TENANT B:

"On the second floor, there are small gangs and I was the victim of harassment of one of those gangs in a period of four to five months.

"Sometimes men are in the building after curfew and they are not supposed to be there."

TENANT C:

"There is a lot of partying in the computer room. When the residents are told to respect the computer room's rules, they become aggressive and verbally abuse the person asking them to respect the rules."

TENANT D:

"Over the five years of living at the YWCA, I have seen a decline in the living environment.

"... When there is an abusive situation with the gangs attacking a tenant, they have no one to talk to. Management is not effective in dealing with conflict."

TENANT E:

"Right now there are not any consequences and no consistency to how staff manages the bad behaviour of second-floor residents."

TENANT F:

"Many tenants spend a lot of time in their room and avoid shared space because they are afraid of the public areas."

TENANT G:

"I was physically attacked."

TENANT H:

"Once I complained to staff and the residents told me that (if) I snitched then I would end up in the ditch."

TENANT I:

"There should be boundaries to behaviour and when they are not followed there should be quick action taken by the YWCA management, which there is not (currently)."

TENANT J:

Told staff "I had an incident two months ago where I was physically attacked" and agreed "the YWCA is a dangerous place to live."

TENANT K:

"There is an environment of a women's correctional facility where there is lots of anger amongst the residents."