CU-CitizenAccess.org, an online newsroom affiliated with the University of Illinois College of Media, has received a $40,000 donation for reporting resources from the Marajen Stevick Foundation.

The donation will help CU-CitizenAccess.org produce reporting on public health and related issues in Champaign County and east central Illinois. Among the issues are the effective delivery of health care to the elderly and to those in rural areas, risky behavior such as drug use and gun violence, and environmental dangers.

A series of short videos will show the impact of the Affordable Care Act on Central Illinois at a community conversation on Tuesday, May 2.

The films profile members of the community for whom the ACA is not an abstract piece of public policy, but rather has real life implications, whether that be access to a quality of care not previously available to them or a sudden rise in insurance premiums that unexpectedly cuts into the family budget.