NEW YORK - At an NYPD Stop the Violence event in Harlem, Stephanie McGraw and her staff and volunteers handed out meals, something they have been doing since late April.

McGraw and her 10-year old non-profit called "We All Really Matter" or W.A.R.M. have added food distribution six days a week to their original mission of supporting victims of domestic abuse in Harlem. With help from World Central Kitchen, they have distributed more than 22,000 meals.

McGraw, a domestic abuse survivor herself, experienced hunger growing up in poverty in a household of nine children. 

"When you are hungry, you just can't think, you can't function, and I say that from my own personal experience, because I went to bed hungry," said McGraw. 

The initial focus of the organization McGraw started after escaping an abusive relationship remains. That focus is even more pivotal during the coronavirus pandemic when domestic violence reports spiked in the city. McGraw says it was a perfect storm for abused women who were quarantined with their abusers and had nowhere to else to go. That's why she turned space at a WeWork building in Harlem where her office is, into as a place of respite for women in abusive relationships. 

"They are so shocked in their situation and they just need to hear themselves talking so we let them talk and then we share our stories about when we were there and this is what we did to get out," said McGraw, who has been featured in training films produced by the NYPD for domestic violence sensitivity training. 

McGraw has always taken her fight to the streets, and during the pandemic visited supermarkets leaving leaflets with W.A.R.M.'s hotline number getting the word out that it was there to help. McGraw says in many ways, helping other women helps herself, part of her own transformation into the woman she is today. 

"I was broken, battered, shattered, broke down and did not understand which way to walk, so I know how it feels to have somebody just to say, come on sister I am going to walk with you," said McGraw, who hosts a conference every year to bring together survivors, family members, healers and activists. 

McGraw says they have a goal of establishing their own safe place for women north of the city,  since shelters are often overwhelmed here. For now the work fighting domestic violence and hunger continues here in Harlem. To find out more head to: WeAllReallyMatter.org.