On Tuesday (August 8), Jelly Roll participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for Nashville’s new Youth Campus for Empowerment. Jelly is a native of Antioch, Tennessee, who has risen from the depths of being an incarcerated teen to the heights of music superstardom, so this new facility is dear to his heart.  A 14-acre campus will become the new home of the Davidson County Juvenile Justice Center, along with a pre-trial housing facility for youth. The site will also feature resources and aid to families involved in the justice system, as well as a 24-hour center that will provide support for youth in crisis.

During the ceremony, Jelly Roll revealed that he spent his 14th, 15th and 16th birthdays in the Davidson County Juvenile Justice Center, and expressed how important it was for him to be there for the groundbreaking.  “That thing hadn’t changed nothing but the paint in 30 years. I personally know, because I was there,” he said. “A lot of these kids are a victim of their circumstances and where they came from, so this is a really cool chance to change things,” Jelly  later told NewsChannel5. (Billboard)