Alexis Smallwood and her 9-year-old son AJ live in a one-bedroom apartment in the Arvene View complex on Beach 66th Street in Far Rockaway, Queens. The pair was downgraded from a two-bedroom shortly after Hurricane Sandy, as the Department of Housing Preservation & Development decided a one bedroom was adequate for a single parent family. As a mother, Alexis is frustrated that AJ cannot have his own room, especially as he mother is also living with them temporarily. AJ has to sleep in a bed with his mother. Kimberley Khan, AJís grandmother also stays at the apartment five nights a week, (the other two she spends at a friendís apartment) as she is facing eviction from her own apartment in the Bronx. She sleeps on a make-shift bed of cardboard and plastic storage boxes that is too small for her. Alexis and her mother have a family history of shelter homes due to their deprived childhood, and want to prevent this from happening with AJ by all means. The family is of Native American, Irish and Creole origins. AJís father who rarely visits him is Jamaican. The apartment complex at Arvene-by-the-sea, was originally built in the early 1970ís but was repainted after Hurricane Sandy, when the buildingís basement was flooded and consequently contracted mould.

Residents of Arvene View complex walk towards the security entrance of the building in Far Rockaway, Queens on 30th Nov 2014.

The family dinner table in Alexis Smallwood's home, displays photos of her son and certificates of his achievements at school.

Alexis Smallwood, 33 and her son AJ, 9, spend Sunday morning on the 30th Nov. 2014, in their apartment in Far Rockaway,. As a member of the Rockaway Wildfire support group and a strong advocate for Affordable Housing, Alexis keeps up to date with community developments through her local paper.

AJ and Alexis sit on the floor of their scarcely furnished living room. Alexis is looking for social work as a caregiver because her current position at the non-profit does not pay. AJ has a knack for building, and enjoys spending Sunday morning constructing Lego before starting his homework.

Alexisí mother, Kimberley Khan adjusts the single bedroom curtain with a metal rod. She suffers from leg injuries and so cannot reach the rail by herself.

Posters displayed in the only bedroom of the Smallwood apartment, along with a photo of both Alexis and her son AJ.

Alexis' mother, Kimberley Khan rests on the bed she has made for herself in her daughterís bedroom on 30th Nov 2014. The bed consists of plastic storage boxes and a comforter. She says sheís used to sleeping ìrough,î since her mother passed away when she was 14 and her father was not present, so Khan and her nine siblings were placed in shelters.

Kimberley Khan speaks to her daughter Alexis Smallwood in the 1-bedroom apartment at Arvene-by-the-sea, Queens. She is worried about her current eviction notice. Khan proposes to contact the housing association about the trouble she has encountered with her current social worker, whoís repeatedly refused to meet her.

Kimberley Khan adjusts her hair after cleaning the bathroom of her daughter's one bedroom apartment. She says that itís the ìleast she can doî in return for her daughter letting her stay.

Kimberley Khan, 54, in the bathroom of the apartment in Arvene by the Sea, Far Rockaway.

AJ watches his favourite show Dragon Ball Z on an old television screen in the living room, as he begins to tidy the Lego he dispersed on the floor.

Kimberley Khan looks in the refrigerator in the kitchen of her daughter's apartment, as she prepares to make dinner on the eve of 30th Nov 2014. The wall beside her is decorated with paintings done by her 9-year-old grandson AJ.

AJ, 9, watches subway trains go by at station Beach 66th, from the balcony of his apartment. He and his mother live on the 17th floor of the complex. He says he loves being that high up. In the background is the cove of the Atlantic Ocean at Far Rockaway, Queens.

AJ sits on the mini armchair in the living of the Rockaway apartment, as he does his homework on his motherís laptop. In the background a disc of Dragon Ball Z is playing on the television.

Alexis and her son AJ walk on Beach 55th, situated behind their apartment complex on 30th Nov. 2014. AJ likes to play and build sandcastles near the water, but his mother says he is still too young to go out on his own and so accompanies him.

Alexis Smallwood looks towards the new hotel being built near Beach 40th in Far Rockaway, Queens. She says it is unnecessary spending on behalf of the congressman as there are other community needs to be met. She says that the area doesn't have a local school, cinema or entertainment center for children. She thinks that the hotel will be another useless and empty investment to ruin the Rockaway peninsula. Behind her stands the Arvene Apartment complex.

AJ walks away from the Atlantic Ocean on Rockaway Beach, 30th Nov 2014, after inspecting parts of a covered neoprene area on the beach.

AJ is seen walking on the boardwalk in Rockaway on Nov 30th 2014. Alexis Smallwood says that the beach doesn't get that much busier in the summer as tourists prefer to venture to other parts of Rockaway because of a lack of cafes or vendors at Beach 55th.

Alexis and Aj on Beach 55th boardwalk in Far Rockaway, Queens. Behind csits their apartment complex of Arvene-by-the-sea.

Alexis Smallwood, 33, at the downstairs deli of her apartment complex, in Far Rockaway, Queens Sun 30th Nov 2014. Her continuing financial struggles have limited what she can afford to buy for dinner.