KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Osceola County commissioners are preparing to invest nearly $9 million for an affordable housing project.

Affordable housing is a problem, not just for seniors and families who are homeless and living in motels on U.S. 192, but it’s also an issue plaguing a younger generation.

Estefania Soto recently graduated but doesn’t know how she will be able to move out on her own.

“It’s very hard because I am not able to really do it by myself due to the fact that the prices are extremely high,” Soto said.

An empty land on Poinciana Boulevard is in the process of being purchased by Osceola County at $8.9 million. Taxpayer funds are being used to buy this 82-acre property, where commissioners plan to build affordable housing.

The land is walking distance from the Poinciana SunRail Station, something Commissioner Peggy Choudhry said is key, as there’s often a gap between affordable housing and transportation.

“So we want to make sure that wherever we build affordable housing, it’s in the places our residents are going to use it the most,” Choudhry said. “And the residents are going to need it the most. And that’s definitely around transit and transportation.”

The county will be closing on the property in February, then they will create a master plan and later start accepting bids from a developer willing to work with these requirements.

Soto said her older sister had to move back to Puerto Rico because her pay wasn’t cutting it in Osceola County. She’s hoping that won’t happen to her.

“I would like to stay here, and I would like everything to go down so I am able to afford to stay in Osceola County,” Soto added.