Resolution 312, passed in the October 15, 1945 board meeting, said that “The substandard residence requirement shall be waived for those veterans and surviving families of deceased veterans discharged in a one year period prior to the date of admission to the project.” There were several thousand returned war veterans in Texarkana, Texas, who were either unemployed or their employment made it impossible to pay open market rent, or to construct a home. As a result, Resolution 344, passed on September 22, 1947, adopted these sub-standard living regulations to assess eligibility to live in Stevens Courts:
1. No running water in current dwelling.
2. No electricity and/or gas.
3. No bath or shower, or, the present bath and/or shower was unfit for use.
4. No inside toilet, or the inside toilet was unfit for use.
5. Toilet, bath, or kitchen shared by two or more families.
6. Structure unfit for use, or in need of major repairs.
7. Acute overcrowding or doubling up.
8. Dwelling unit on alley, or other undesirable location.

In January of 1949, the H.A.T.T. Board began making arrangements to get out of defense plant worker housing and concentrate, instead, on low income housing which had become a pressing issue in Texarkana. Along this line, the board applied to U.S.H.A. to build an additional four-hundred low-rent housing units; however, officials at U.S.H.A. recommended building no more than two-hundred units. The board agreed and adopted changes in existing housing projects to cover their needs. Robison Courts was removed from “War Housing” status and became a white, low-income residence area. East Hooks Courts was transferred to the Army. The two-hundred new units would be built for black families.

In 1951 the combined Total Operating Income for both Stevens Courts and Bowie Courts was $74,590.00 and the Total Operating Expenses for both projects was $49,652.00. In 1953 the Total Operating Income for both projects was $79,300.00 and the Total Operating Expenses were $64,701.00. The large increase in operating expenses was probably due to increased maintenance and repairs needed on the ten-year old buildings.

By 1959 significant changes were noted in the Stevens Courts resident population. Eighty-five percent of the units were filled in 1959 and the adult population had begun its female-dominated rise: thirty-one percent of the population was male while sixty-nine percent was female. Unemployment numbers began to climb: seventy percent were employed while thirty percent were unemployed. Family characteristics dramatically changed: eighty percent of the population was single (1943 showed five percent) and twenty percent were couples (1943 showed ninety-five percent). Additionally, eighteen percent of the population had a telephone in their apartment – a factor that is not usually linked to low-income housing.

The 1970 Stevens Courts population showed even more dramatic differences. Of the 132 adults living in the project, twenty-two percent were male while seventy-eight percent were female. Twenty-five percent were employed while sixty-five percent were unemployed. Of the unemployed, sixteen percent