ON CHRISTMAS DAY 2021.. RICHARD SOLIS JR…FORMER TEACHER AND COACH AT ALISAL HIGH SCHOOL DIED FROM CANCER.. HIS DAUGHTER LALI..IS CONTINUING AND HONORING HIS LEGACY THROUGH HEARTFELT HEALING..A NONPROFIT DELIVERING PERSONALIZED CARE PACKAGES TO PATIENTS AND FAMILIES FACING MEDICAL CHALLENGES. <GRIEF IS SOMETHING THAT’S NOT VERY MUCH TALKED ABOUT. SO, I DEFINITELY WANTED TO MAKE OTHER YOUTH FEEL HEARD. SO I JUST LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY’RE NOT ALONE IN THIS PROCESS.> WHEN LALI CAME TO HER MOTHER WITH THE IDEA FOR THIS PROJECT.. IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TIMES SHE WAS OPEN ABOUT HOW SHE WAS FEELING ABOUT HER DAD’S DEATH. <WHEN SHE CAME TO US WITH THIS PROJECT, WE JUST EMBRACED IT AND WE’RE HERE TO SUPPORT HER 100%. AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL BECAUSE IT KEEPS DAD’S MEMORY ALIVE.”> OTHER TEENS AT ALISAL HAVE JOINED SOLIS. HOPING TO KEEP HER DAD’S LEGACY ALIVE..SHE LEARNED SOME OF THEM HAVE FACED GRIEF SIMILAR TO HERS. <A LOT OF MY FRIENDS REACHED OUT TO ME SHARING THEIR OWN, THEIR OWN GRIEF. AND IT REALLY JUST WOW. I MEAN, IT REALLY TOUCHED MY HEART JUST BECAUSE IT’S NOT SOMETHING WE TALK ABOUT. AND I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THEIR STORIES AND GRIEF REALLY BROUGHT US TOGETHER.”> HER BROTHER SAYS HE SEES HIS FATHER IN LALI AS SHE WORKS ON THIS PROJECT. <SHE PERSEVERES AND SHE CONTINUES TO WANT TO GIVE, YOU KNOW, OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF HER HEART. SO I JUST SEE MY DAD’S BIG HEART> AS EDUCATORS…SEEING LALI TAKE THE SUPPORT FROM THE ALISAL HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY AND TURN HER GRIEF INTO COMPASSION FOR OTHERS SPEAKS VOLUMES TO THEM… <WE’RE JUST THERE TO SUPPORT. AND IT’S BEEN FANTASTIC TO KIND OF STEP BACK AND BE HER CHEERLEADERS.” > <IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT THIS IS WHERE SHE’S AT. AND AND THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING FOR HER. THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO COME” > LIKE LALI’S TEACHER’S SAID…THIS IS JUST THE START FOR LALI AND SHE PLANS ON SENDING OUT HER FIRST MENTAL HEALTH CARE PACKA
Alisal High student honors late father through nonprofit supporting grieving families
After losing her father to cancer on Christmas Day 2021, Lali Solis founded Heartfelt Healing to deliver personalized care packages to those facing medical challenges—turning personal grief into a mission of compassion and connection.
Updated: 6:22 PM PDT Aug 26, 2025
On Christmas Day 2021. Richard Solis Jr., a former teacher and coach at Alisal High School, died from cancer.His daughter, Lali Solis, continues honoring his legacy through Heartfelt Healing, a nonprofit delivering personalized care packages to patients and families facing medical challenges. “Grief is something that’s not very much talked about. So, I definitely wanted to make other youth feel heard. So I just let them know that they’re not alone in this process,” Solis said.When Lali came to her mother, Griselda Gil-Solis, with the idea for this project, it was one of the first times she was open about how she was feeling about her dad’s death. “When she came to us with this project, we just embraced it, and we’re here to support her 100%. And it’s beautiful because it keeps dad’s memory alive,” Gil-Solis said.Other teens at Alisal have joined Solis. Hoping to keep her dad’s legacy alive, she learned some of them have faced grief similar to hers. “A lot of my friends reached out to me, sharing their own, their own grief. And it really just, wow. I mean, it really touched my heart just because it’s not something we talk about. And I didn’t even know their stories and grief really brought us together,” Solis said.Her brother, JD Solis, said he sees his father in Lali as she works on this project.”She perseveres and she continues to want to give, you know, out of the kindness of her heart. So I just see my dad’s big heart,” he said.As educators, seeing Lali take the support from the Alisal High School community and turn her grief into compassion for others speaks volumes for themCrystal Soria, an Alisal High School teacher said, “We’re just there to support. And it’s been fantastic to kind of step back and be her cheerleaders.”Tiffany Ayala-Lala, high school assistant principal, said, “It’s no surprise that this is where she’s at. And and this is only the beginning for her. There’s so much more to come.”
On Christmas Day 2021. Richard Solis Jr., a former teacher and coach at Alisal High School, died from cancer.
His daughter, Lali Solis, continues honoring his legacy through Heartfelt Healing, a nonprofit delivering personalized care packages to patients and families facing medical challenges.
“Grief is something that’s not very much talked about. So, I definitely wanted to make other youth feel heard. So I just let them know that they’re not alone in this process,” Solis said.
When Lali came to her mother, Griselda Gil-Solis, with the idea for this project, it was one of the first times she was open about how she was feeling about her dad’s death.
“When she came to us with this project, we just embraced it, and we’re here to support her 100%. And it’s beautiful because it keeps dad’s memory alive,” Gil-Solis said.
Other teens at Alisal have joined Solis. Hoping to keep her dad’s legacy alive, she learned some of them have faced grief similar to hers.
“A lot of my friends reached out to me, sharing their own, their own grief. And it really just, wow. I mean, it really touched my heart just because it’s not something we talk about. And I didn’t even know their stories and grief really brought us together,” Solis said.
Her brother, JD Solis, said he sees his father in Lali as she works on this project.
“She perseveres and she continues to want to give, you know, out of the kindness of her heart. So I just see my dad’s big heart,” he said.
As educators, seeing Lali take the support from the Alisal High School community and turn her grief into compassion for others speaks volumes for them
Crystal Soria, an Alisal High School teacher said, “We’re just there to support. And it’s been fantastic to kind of step back and be her cheerleaders.”
Tiffany Ayala-Lala, high school assistant principal, said, “It’s no surprise that this is where she’s at. And and this is only the beginning for her. There’s so much more to come.”