BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The ripple effect of coronavirus continues to make waves in the housing market.

One Idaho group is working to address the shortage of affordable housing in the Treasure Valley.

Caritas Commons is a housing development with 14 new homes made from steel cargo containers. According to LEAP Housing Solutions, it will be the largest affordable homeownership project the area has seen in the last 25 years.

Seleena Ott struggled to find affordable housing, and now she and her family are looking at Caritas Commons.

“We definitely want to grow roots and be settled somewhere and have a place of our own that we can call home,” Ott said. “We realized that even with our downpayment that we thought was our biggest hurdle, we still couldn’t find a house in our price range.”

Bart Cochran, founder of LEAP, is looking for ways to fix that. And he’s encouraging people to help.

“A large portion of the funding that makes these projects possible comes from federal funding that’s allocated here locally,” Cochran said. “So just encouragement to your local officials I think is one thing.”

But the coronavirus hasn’t made things easy for the people at LEAP. Their Boise office has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic. They said that they’re continuing to do their work virtually, that way they can keep serving the community even throughout the crisis.

For Cochran, this is more than just providing housing options to those in need.

“[I want this to be] something that people can be really proud of,” said Cochran. “They can feel proud that this is where they live. So it’s not just adequate housing for families that are low-income, but it’s dignified housing.”

The housing units will be four-bedroom and will sell for $212,000.

The first four homes are available to households earning 80% or less than the median income in the area.

“We honestly thought it was too good to be true, but as soon as we talked to Terry, we felt like we had peace,” said Ott. “We felt like this was a God-given opportunity. We felt like this is it, the next step for our family.”

According to Saint Alphonsus Health System, access to affordable housing is directly linked to one’s ability to stay healthy. That’s why they’re partnering with LEAP to create Caritas Commons.

LEAP Housing Solutions is planning to deliver the units by February or March of 2021.

Prospective buyers can learn more and certify their income levels by clicking here.

Learn how to contribute to the LEAP Housing community.