Thanks to a Healing Illinois grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Field Foundation of Illinois, administered by the United Way of Central Illinois, the NPR Illinois team is visiting several diverse communities to discuss what it's like to live in central Illinois. In this LISTEN session you hear from members of the Indian community at The Hindu Temple of Greater Springfield as they discuss their vibrant community and why they love living in Springfield.

With the shrinking media landscape, many communities are underrepresented in the media. To hear from these communities, NPR Illinois hosts an event called LISTEN. The Petersburg, Ill. community was chosen for the March LISTEN event and with the help of Broadgauge, a local restaurant and event space, NPR Illinois spoke to several area residents and learned about the joys, challenges and media usage in the community. Community Voices co-hosts Vanessa Ferguson and Randy Eccles listen back to the event recording and provide analysis of the topics discussed. LISTEN in Petersburg was funded by a grant from the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln.

Alberta Commey is a student at Southeast High School with an interest in journalism. She helped lead our first NPR Illinois LISTEN session at the high school during which we asked students about their views on the media. The session was also designed to identify citizen journalists who can report on issues important to underrepresented communities. Commey reported on the event and the experience on her fellow students.

NPR Illinois hosted its first LISTEN session, a program designed to hear feedback about the media from unheard parts of the community. For this first session the Community Voices team visited Southeast High school to ask students what it's like to be a student today, how they find news and how the media can change to entice younger listeners. The program was created thanks to a donor through the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln. If you have a group that would like to be heard, please email communityvoices@nprillinois.org.