Jelly Roll Helps Open New Nashville Youth Center Where He Was Previously Incarcerated [Video]

Jelly Roll is giving back to his community.

On Tuesday, Aug. 8, the CMT Music Award winner, 39, helped break ground on Nashville’s new Youth Campus for Empowerment. Jelly Roll — whose was born as Jason Bradley DeFord — is from nearby Antioch, Tenn., and was incarcerated in the city’s old facility, Davidson County Juvenile Justice Center, several times during his youth.

As a result, he’s passionate about Nashville’s goal to create a place that focuses on rehabilitating and nurturing young people who find themselves in the detention center. In fact, he’s partnering with the city to help fund the new facility.

“I celebrated my 14th, 15th, and 16th birthdays there,” Jelly Roll said at the ceremony per local Fox affiliate WZTV. “The only reason I wasn’t there at 17 was because I was charged as an adult.”

The country artist, who had a show in Las Vegas the same night as the groundbreaking, called the city’s …