Founder/ C.E.O. 

 

Dr. Vilma Luz Cabán understands the publishing journey. She is the author of the powerful memoir The Heart of an Advocate, published in 2023.  

 

In this wide-ranging and often heart-wrenching account, Dr. Cabán weaves personal experiences and hard lessons from surviving in a home with domestic violence. Her deepest wish was to break the cycles of abuse and help change the narrative for women every-where. While the human experience is often marked by trauma and risk, Dr. Cabán demonstrates how these hardships can become the very source of transformative power.

 

As a young girl, Vilma conspired in secret with her mother to save enough money to escape their abuser. María’s dream was to return to her ancestral home in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico in the hopes to live freely. María sent money to her brother who was constructing her a new home on the family plot. Tragically, María lost her battle with cancer before that dream could be realized.

 

In honor of her mother’s strength and vision, Dr. Cabán—a lifelong educator, humanitarian researcher, and advocate—transformed her own retirement dream into something much larger: a publishing house dedicated to uplifting underrepresented voices from around the world. She named it Casa de María Publisher as a tribute to her mother.

 

Today, Casa de Maria Publisher's main office is located in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico with different satellite offices in New York and Connecticut. Now María’s Puerto Rican ancestral space serves as a sanctuary for writers—a place of refuge, reflection, and renewal.

It is a place where storytellers can grow their manuscripts and refine their writing craft. It is also the place where CEO and Founder Dr. Cabán launches her online and in-person transformative writing retreats, informative webinars, and inspirational podcast. 

Dr. Vilma Luz Caban is the executive producer of the documentary...La Casa de Maria: Trials & Triumphs.  She collaborated with director Joe Negron.  

 

She is grateful to television host Rhina Valentin and the production crew at the New York City Open Friday Television show for their television interview and documentary highlight. The documentary producer & author Dr. Vilma Luz Cabán collaborated with the City University of New York BCC Campus student coordinators for a documentary screening.  Prior to that, the documentary premiere was showcased at the Bregamos Theatre in New Haven, Connecticutt. 

 

DOCUMENTARY SUMMARY: 

This documentary chronicles a Nuyorican daughter’s journey as she relocates or “rematriates” to her mother’s motherland of Puerto Rico . It shares Vilma's  journey as a daughter doing all she can to make that final promise a reality. Hurricane Maria and a global pandemic couldn’t stop this tenacious daughter.

 

The images of Puerto Rico in this documentary bring on such nostalgia for the island. As the executive producer of this project, Dr. Caban is proud that she broke through the struggles to make this documentary a reality.

 

In July 2024, Vilma retired as an educator, advocate, and humanitarian researcher. With a small team of dedicated construction workers, along with her own DIY construction skillset, Vilma completed the construction of La Casa de Maria in 18 months. For more information visit www.vilmaluzcaban.com or the instagram page @theheartofanadvocate.