Jelly Roll supports new 14-acre youth campus in Nashville
The singer joined officials to break ground on a facility designed to replace outdated juvenile justice infrastructure.
Country music singer Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, joined Nashville officials on August 8, 2024, to break ground on a new youth campus. According to the Times of India, the project is the Nashville Youth Campus for Empowerment (NYCE), which will be built on a 14-acre site on Brick Church Pike.
The development aims to replace the current Juvenile Justice Centre at 100 Woodland Street, which opened in 1994. The Juvenile Court Clerk of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County noted that the existing facility faced infrastructure difficulties, including plumbing problems between 2019 and 2020, and lacked sufficient space for expanding court operations.
The NYCE campus will house the Davidson County Juvenile Court, a pre-trial housing facility, and a 24-hour assessment centre for children in crisis. The design also includes spaces for court hearings, private meetings, and a safe exchange facility for therapeutic visits between children and caregivers.
The project is personal for DeFord, who spent his 14th, 15th, and 16th birthdays at the Davidson County Juvenile Justice Centre. He expressed a desire for the new development to offer a supportive environment rather than just confinement.
DeFord previously donated a recording studio to the juvenile detention centre, which opened in May 2024. The NYCE development is expected to be completed in 2027.