Good Neighbor Leadership Team
Barbara Bridgewater, President, has been volunteering with Good Neighbor since fall of 2015 and has served on the Board since July 2016. She works as a part-time case manager for Compassion Ministries, a transitional family shelter in Waco, and also teaches English as a Second Language to adults through McLennan Community College. She came to Compassion from Ohio where she was working for a transitional program and emergency shelter for 6 years. Barbara has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Miami of Ohio University and a Master’s Degree in Education, specializing in Bilingual Education from Ohio University. Barbara, who has two girls, is married to Phillip Bridgewater, a full-time employee of Habitat for Humanity. The whole family is very involved in Hope Fellowship, a neighborhood church ministry in Waco, as well as with Habitat and Compassion.
Tyler Mowry, Treasurer is a PhD candidate and part-time lecturer in the Department of Religion at Baylor University. Before attending Baylor, he earned a ThM from Candler School of Theology at Emory University and an MA from Chicago Theological Seminary. Both throughout and prior to his academic journey, Tyler has participated in a number of community development efforts, primarily through education. After earning his BA in Spanish, he worked as an early childhood educator in barrio Santa Fe, Bogotá, Colombia. When he returned to the US, he remained in education, but as a parent liaison and advocate in West Chicago Elementary School District 33. There, he organized parents and teachers in a campaign seeking to expand Bilingual classrooms within predominantly Spanish-speaking communities in the Chicago suburbs. Tyler has also participated in community development via sustainable agriculture, most recently as resident and manager at Oakleaf Mennonite Farm in Atlanta, GA – an urban farm emphasizing in education and food justice advocacy. He is excited to continue participating in community-building work here in Waco through the mission and vision of the Good Neighbor House. Tyler is married to Anne, a biologist, and has two children. He enjoys cooking, making music, and telling stories.
Laine Scales, Founder, moved to Waco in 1999 to begin work at Baylor University as a social work professor. Laine moved to Sanger Heights in 2003, renovating an old home on Colcord Avenue. She has been engaged in Waco as a member of Hope Fellowship, the Community Race Relations Council, and Prosper Waco Education Steering Committee. In 2016 Laine was awarded the Master Teacher designation, Baylor’s most prestigious teaching award. Laine publishes books and articles on the history of women in higher education and social work. Inspired by this legacy, creating a settlement house that brings together neighborhoods and universities for community improvement has been an important goal for her, so in 2012 she gathered a group of advisors to create what would eventually become Good Neighbor Settlement House and Worship Center, which opened in 2016.
Gretchen Stokes is an applied ecologist and Assistant Professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Baylor University. She works in fisheries at the intersection of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, primarily helping to sustain freshwater fisheries for livelihoods and sustenance in some of the world’s most biodiverse places. Before moving to Waco, she served as a postdoctoral fellow with the U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Adaptation Science Center through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and a Consultant with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. She holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida, M.S. in Fish and Wildlife Conservation from Virginia Tech, and B.S. in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from North Carolina State University. Gretchen loves all things outdoors, especially hiking, backpacking, sailing, and paddling, and spending time with friends and family. She moved to Waco in January 2026 and looks forward to serving with the Good Neighbor House as she gets rooted in town.