Stephanie McGraw WARMS The City

In 2010, domestic voilence survivor Stephanie McGraw started We All Really Matter (WARM), a nonprofit dedicated to domestic voilence prevention and support for victims.

“We are the critical response team when the police bring women and children out of very dangerous situations,” said McGraw. “We work with NYPD to get women out to safety, and we have a store that is always in need of supplies.”

WARM supports domestic violence victims a through prevention groups, intervention as first responders, and by building a diverse community of women rooted in experience. WARM currently operates in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx and has done work in Africa and Ghana.

“I am a survivor of domestic violence. I was inspired to do this work after coming out of my vicious cycle of endless loops and despair that didn’t take me anywhere,” McGraw said.

For McGraw, there was no culturally competent community for women and children of color. Her experience fueled her motivation to start the nonprofit.

“I did not see any representation for women that looked like me. I didn’t see anyone in the marginalized and underserved community among black and brown women, who suffer at a higher rate in every aspect of the spectrum from education, food deserts, poor health services and domestic violence,” McGraw said. “So I wanted to make a difference starting in my Harlem community. We help women navigate out through what we’ve been through.”

The work that McGraw is doing is making an impact in New York City, where the Bronx and Brooklyn have the highest fatality rates, according to the mayor’s office.

“Bronx has the highest fatalities and the highest domestic violence cases. And black and brown women are disproportionately affected by domestic violence in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx,” McGraw said. “We target those areas.”

During the pandemic, WARM remained open, providing over 520,000 meals, responding to over 9,350 hotline calls and conducting more than 200 emergency shelter placements. Since then, WARM’s services have grown, now offering grief counseling, workshops on understanding PTSD and trauma, a 12-week “Love Shouldn’t Hurt” training program, and a “Love on the Block” event launched during the pandemic.

“All these communities are filled with poison and drugs and alcohol, and we get to take medicine and that medicine is love in our ‘Love on the Block’ event program,” McGraw said. “We go to the Harlem and Bronx community, spreading love through music, a bouncy house, clothes and food.”

McGraw hopes to see WARM expand to other states in the future. “I’d like to see more centers for the work that we do,” McGraw said. “I’d like to see more services bringing awareness and educating women on how to get out safely, and understanding this vicious cycle of domestic violence. I would also like to see trauma centers because women that are coming out of...long-term domestic violence relationships suffer from PTSD. So, we’d like to see more of that exposed and talked about.”

McGraw said there is still a lot of fundraising to be done to support the nonprofit. She is hopeful that her OTTY_recognition will shine a spotlight on the much-needed domestic violence services WARM offers.

“I am overwhelmed with gratitude that someone noticed the work we do and wants to give me an award because it is not for me—it is for the women and children in our community that are suffering in silence, and we have the opportunity to bring the light and give them a voice,” McGraw said. “We want women and children to be free of domestic violence, and live in a world where they can find great beauty and joy in their surroundings.”