Written by Tanya Terry, with photos courtesy of Tamika Dukes, CMA
Featured photo: Tamika Dukes, CMA, never thought the “worst experience” of her life would lead to her being a light in someone else’s life in such a powerful way!
Tamika Dukes never thought the “worst experience” of her life would lead her to where she is today, as a medical assistant the CEO and owner of Heartfelt Grounds Assisted Living, LLC.
“My pregnancy was beautiful,” Dukes stated. “I was working at the Genesee County Health Department and WIC at that time. And I worked my entire pregnancy all the way up to the point where I went into labor.”
Dukes was in labor for almost 24 hours and needed an emergency C-section. She also said her experience being in the hospital for almost a week was “lovely.”
Then, she got home with her daughter.
“I was pumping like a maniac, trying to make sure I had enough milk for her,” Dukes said. “I couldn’t sleep because I was always watching her to see if she was breathing while she was sleeping. And when I would take a shower, I would have to hop out the shower really fast because I thought she was crying.
“…I lived in an apartment, and I was three floors away from the laundry room. The doctor told me not to do all this stuff, but I had no other choice but to do it. And it’s scary taking that heavy laundry basket down three flights of stairs to do my laundry. And I was worried about like: ‘Is the baby okay?‘”
Dukes shared that she got to the point where everything was so overwhelming that she couldn’t sleep and she had to be hospitalized.
“I was hearing things. I was seeing things. I didn’t trust anybody…It was like I was in a trance.”
Duke’s mother, Marilyn Dukes, kept her granddaughter (Tamika’s daughter) while Tamika was in the hospital for almost a week. Tamika Dukes stated group sessions and therapy were helpful.
“I do think that some women get misdiagnosed and get labeled as something that they’re not when they’re dealing with postpartum depression and psychosis.”
Dukes noticed what she saw as a gap in maternal support.
“A lot of women don’t have support. They don’t have anyone to be there for them during their postpartum recovery.
“No woman should not have the support because they can’t afford it.”
Dukes learned about Michigan’s Medicaid Home Health Program in 2021 when her mother was getting paid to take care of her oldest brother, who is autistic.
Dukes started a business in 2021. Through her home health agency Heartfelt Grounds she started serving people in the community who were elderly and disabled.
Then, Dukes got pregnant again, and again she experienced postpartum depression and psychosis. This time, however, it was not as severe. She had acquired knowledge on what to do.
“That’s when I started to explore the idea of giving my services to pregnant and postpartum women”
According to Dukes, some people laughed in her face when she shared this idea.
Still, in around 2020, Dukes put her first new mother into the Michigan Medicaid Home Health Program for maternal support.
She took a break, then started promoting her program again in 2025.
“Educare Flint called me with a client that needed desperate help, a pregnant woman that was in shambles. And we got her on the program. We got her the help that she needed.”
Today, Dukes has home health workers who work for her, who she calls “mother hens.” The workers are able to cook for, clean for and run errands for new mothers, providing much-needed support.
“I believe that God put me through what I went through so that I could understand and be the one to lead this ministry. I believe that He appointed me to lead this ministry and to help the women that are going through the same thing that I was going through.”
For information on the Michigan Medicaid Home Health Program, visit https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/doing-business/providers/providers/other/homehelp.
To learn more about Heartfelt Grounds Assisted Living LLC, call( 810) 610-0777, visit the Heartfelt Grounds Assisted Living LLC Facebook page, or email heartfeltgrounds101@gmail.com.
\
