A Return Home

Heals Like Home is a dream that grew from Leilani’s soul; a seed planted so firmly in her heart that it sprouted into her road map back to self, back to community, back home. 

The daughter of Puerto Rican parents from Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, Leilani Lopez-Blasini is the poster child for diaspora whose entire selves reverberate with the chants of “no nací en Puerto Rico, ¡Puerto Rico nació en mi!” (I was not born in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico was born in me!) and “¡Boricua hasta en la luna!” (Boricua even on the moon!). Raised by her mother and a community held together by powerful women, Leilani learned about what it means to be Puerto Rican: a history of colonial violence, intentional erasure, and coordinated displacement of resilient  boricuas who continue their pursuit of liberation on and off the island. She found healing in the island’s waters, the land, the smells dancing in the wind, and the sweet song of the coqui. Puerto Rico. Always giving without asking for anything in return. Leilani’s mother taught her that we do not exist in isolation from one another, but rather, we evolve in relation to one another and to the earth. This up bringing formed in her a growing appetite for freedom, justice, and equity for all people. 

Born and raised in hyper segregated Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Leilani has spent the greater part of her life on the north side of the city. Growing up in her grandma’s beauty salon on the east side, Leilani was supported by a booming Puerto Rican community in the 90s. You knew where to find them: flags, murals, parades, businesses. Her family moved frequently, usually residing in predominantly Black neighborhoods and she attended too many schools to count, most of which had diverse student bodies - meaning White students were the minority. Her educational experiences were heavy on celebrating many cultures. Leilani’s first Black educator in elementary school created the first mural opportunity Leilani was a part of: painting inventions by African Americans for Black history month. In middle school, her best friend’s mother introduced her to Black authors whose narratives and experiences so closely mirrored those of the Puerto Rican authors she consumed. In high school she enrolled in a Minorities in history and African American history course where she further understood the global influence of the Black struggle for civil rights and the intersectionality of Black liberation and Puerto Rican independence. Her undergraduate education and the start of her work with non profits as a teen mother laid the foundation for her impactful legacy.

With over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and grassroots community organizing in Milwaukee, Leilani leads through a community-informed and equity-driven lens. Her work has consistently centered on dismantling structural inequities and advancing community resilience. She has led numerous public health initiatives—from environmental health projects addressing water and green infrastructure to violence prevention strategies grounded in lived experience and local wisdom.  Leilani’s professional focus lies at the intersection of racial justice, data equity, and community engagement, with a commitment to advancing equitable outcomes through evidence-based approaches that disrupt cycles of violence and foster long-term systems change.  

Following the devastation from Hurricane Maria in 2017, Leilani collaborated with Boricuas state side and on the island to provide aid to residents. 2018 began a turning point for Leilani. Burnout from community work had been on her heels for a few years, but her passion and dedication to community kept calling her back to the work. Starting in her teens, Leilani wanted to share the experience and everything she knew about Puerto Rico with friends. She wanted to provide them a cultural experience different from tourist resort life. Always ready to nerd out on all things Puerto Rico, trips with Leilani always come with many history lessons and a reminder that the island will give peace and healing to those who come to her, our responsibility is to give her something in return: leave her better than you found her and always stand for her freedom - however that may manifest for you. During a trip with a fellow cultural worker to Puerto Rico in 2018, she realized what she had been doing for years: curating experiences. She was made aware of her own energy shift, witnessed it in her friend, and she decided there that she wanted to create this healing experience, rooted in community for people like them: those at the front lines of change. 

Leilani has maintained strong ties to the island and cultivated relationships with folks fighting for un Puerto Rico libre (a Puerto Rico free of colonial settlers). Since early adulthood, she has been crafting plans to rematriate - get her and her family back to where they belong, to the motherland that birthed her ancestors. To the home they were intentionally and strategically pushed out of. La isla del encanto. Preciosa. Borikén.

Heals Like Home wellness retreats are the culmination of her life’s work. Healing the healer is a necessary framework in the fight for a liberated, equitable, and just society. In practice, the retreats encourage reconnecting with nature, self, and each other through meditation, breathing exercises, body movements, grounding ceremonies, ecotours, radical rest, and more. They bring together cultural workers to share experiences, knowledge, resources, and healing practices. Nothing heals a spirit more than being home. When it feels like home, it heals like home.

Leilani earned her Bachelor of Science in education policy and community studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2008. In 2009 she earned her Master of Science in cultural foundations of education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.