The new year is starting with a new non-profit joining the ranks to tackle the housing shortage across the City of Tulsa.'Housing Forward' will be a data-driven approach, focused on on bringing housing of all needs for every phase of life.Tyler Parette sat down with 2 News to talk through his plans as the non-profit's executive director. I think we have all of the pieces on the table to do some really creative and exciting things that set us apart as a community," said Parette. "I moved back to Tulsa from Minnesota because I know that Tulsa is exceptional, and I think we can demonstrate that through how we deal with housing overall.Parette has dedicated the last ten years to housing, which started early in his career here in Tulsa. I was living and working around downtown Tulsa, spending a lot of time on my bike going to work and I was going out to eat for lunch a lot and was walking past people experiencing homelessness that I started to recognize and see every day," he said. "So I just started to think there has to be something that somebody can do to help people out on the street.He started taking an interest in the people he saw, learning their names, stories and circumstances.That moment set it all into motion for Parette. He started volunteering for The City Lights Foundation before getting involved with Housing Solutions.Through that work, Parette said it became clear that while housing is one of the pieces to solving homelessness, those experiencing homelessness aren't the only people in need of a home."Housing Forward is looking at the entire spectrum of housing availability," he said. "It's housing for people who need workforce housing. It's housing for people looking for a larger home. It's housing for people who are potentially nearing retirement, looking to downsize their home. We need to make sure that there's housing available in our communities for every stage of life."A 2023 citywide housing assessment showed that in order to meet the need for housing, Tulsa needed an additional 4,000 units. Over the next decade, the demand is expected to grow to nearly 13,000 units. 2 News asked Parette what made him the best person to take on the challenge."My breadth of experience is really across the entire housing continuum, so I feel like I can bring that experience to Tulsa, and help developers, other community members understand the complexity of that system but also simplify it, and create pathways forward so that we can expedite development processes and make sure that we get the housing that we need," he said. As things get started, Parette and his team will be doing what he described as the background work to solve this issue. That will include collecting data and sharing it with partners to help guide what needs to be built, where to put it, and how to do it.Maintaining the already existing housing across Tulsa and statewide so as not to lose any of the existing units will be another critical piece to their already complex puzzle. Housing Forward also plans to work on policies surrounding building, to expedite the processes and bring more options online as fast as possible. Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere -- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices. Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram SUBSCRIBE on YouTube