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Origin Story: Rykeyla Bridges and Daisophia Harper-Luwemba
(CLARKSTON, Ga.) – When Rykeyla Bridges (A.S. ’16) and DaiSophia Harper-Luwemba (A.S. ’16) met in Perimeter College’s nursing program, they had no idea the impact their meeting would have on their lives. After taking a few classes together and seeing each other on campus, Bridges and Harper-Luwemba became friends during their third semester at Perimeter. Harper-Luwemba asked Bridges if she would like to study for their psychology class together, and they started meeting at the library on the Clarkston Campus.
“Now we’re both psych nurse practitioners,” said Bridges. “And that class is where we really gained our relationship and friendship.”
“We’ve actually been joined at the hip ever since,” Harper-Luwemba continued. “We got our associates together. We got our bachelor’s together after that, and we got our master’s together after that. We were even residents at Grady Hospital together.” Now they are business partners, and they own and operate CSA Homecare providing personalized home care services to seniors living in 72 counties in Georgia.
Before moving to Atlanta, Bridges, from South Georgia and Harper-Luwemba, from Michigan, each went through a season when life felt off course. They realized they weren’t living in the right place. Drawn to new opportunity, they both moved to Atlanta, leaned on family members and were encouraged to apply to Perimeter College. Once they were in Perimeter’s nursing program, everything began to fall into place, including the partnership that would define their journey.
“Perimeter was my second chance to get my life together, to really take college seriously,” said Bridges. When she was younger, she helped take care of her grandmother. “I experienced how her hospice nurse made me feel, and I knew I wanted to be a nurse and make that impact in the lives of others.” Perimeter was the perfect place for her to pursue this goal. “I loved Perimeter because it was very intimate. The fact that you had the library right here, the cafeteria right here, you have a class here. I really like that because I've been to a campus where it was so big you had to get in your car to drive around.”
Perimeter proved to be a great fit for Harper-Luwemba as well. Clarkston Campus “was right down the street,” she explained. “So, it was very local and accessible to me. I had good professors. They were very understanding and happy to mentor. The community that we built amongst the students was close knit.”
Harper-Luwemba continued, “Perimeter was exactly where I needed to be. It set me up. Even if the lights went out, I could still be a nurse because of my preparation at Perimeter College.”
As a teenager, Harper-Luwemba cared for her mother while she recovered from cancer, helping with her surgical wound care and dressing changes. The experience sparked a passion and led to her lifelong calling of caring for others.
Not only have Bridges and Harper-Luwemba run a successful business where they help people every day, the business is growing. A few years ago, they purchased a building in Thomaston, Georgia, intending to open a personal care home. Renovating the 100+ year-old building has taken time, which gave them the opportunity to understand their next steps. Later this summer, they will open CSA Psychiatric Healing Center, where they will offer mental health support to an area of Georgia that doesn’t currently have this type of care available.
What started as a connection in a nursing class on Perimeter’s Clarkston Campus has grown into a life-changing network of care, reshaping lives across Georgia and proof of the lasting impact of purpose and opportunity.
— Story by Christy Petterson
— Photo by Bill Roa