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Jelly Roll Builds Free Rehab and Recovery Campus in Tennessee
Country star Jelly Roll has built his career on truth. His songs speak of pain, redemption, and the long, winding road between the two. But this time, the “Son of a Sinner” singer is taking his message far beyond music. He’s turning his life story into a living, breathing mission: a 100-acre addiction recovery and mental health campus in Tennessee that will provide free care for those battling some of life’s hardest struggles.
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What makes this project remarkable isn’t just its scale, but its sincerity. Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, knows the fight from the inside. He has been where the people he wants to help now stand behind bars, addicted, and broken. His dream is not born of fame or fortune. It is the result of a man who found grace and now wants to give it back.
From Inmate to Advocate
Long before awards and sold-out tours, Jason DeFord was an at-risk kid from Antioch, Tennessee. His early years were a tangle of poor choices and poorer circumstances. Drugs, crime, and survival on the margins shaped his teenage life. He was in and out of the Davidson County Juvenile Justice Center, spending nearly all of his mid-teen years incarcerated.
“I celebrated my 14th, 15th, and 16th birthdays there,” Jelly Roll said at a groundbreaking ceremony for Nashville’s new Youth Campus for Empowerment, a project he is helping fund. “The only reason I wasn’t there at 17 was because I was charged as an adult.”
That honesty is not for show. It’s the cornerstone of how he connects with people. When Jelly Roll talks about the young lives behind bars, it’s not from a distance. It’s from memory. He remembers the paint peeling from the walls of the old facility, the loneliness of holidays spent away from family, and the hopelessness that crept in when no one seemed to care.
“Get rid of stuff that makes you feel like a caged animal,” he told Nashville’s local news station WZTV. “Make these kids feel loved and give them a chance in life. A lot of these kids are victims of their circumstances. This is a really great chance to change things.”
His dedication to change began long before the new youth center’s groundbreaking. In 2022, Jelly Roll donated a fully equipped recording studio to the juvenile center where he was once locked up. He wanted kids to have what he never did a creative outlet, a chance to turn pain into art rather than crime.
“I just realized that was the most impactful thing that ever happened in my life,” he said of his time there. “The darkest moments of my life were being that 15-year-old scared kid spending Thanksgiving away from his family. That’s why it’s so important we give back, especially to our kids.”
Turning Pain Into Purpose
The new 100-acre campus represents the next step in Jelly Roll’s ongoing mission of redemption. It’s not just a facility; it’s a promise to offer others the second chance he fought so hard to earn. Located on his own property in Tennessee, the site will include rehabilitation programs, mental health treatment, therapy sessions, and community-based activities all completely free of charge.
“Imagine drug addicts like us, poor kids, just down bad when life was kicking our ass,” he said in a video announcing the project. “Now think about the resources that we have that could have helped us so much in those moments.”
For Jelly Roll, those resources didn’t exist when he needed them. Recovery programs were expensive, inaccessible, or intimidating. The few that did exist often treated people like statistics rather than humans. His goal now is to build a space that feels like the opposite a sanctuary, not an institution.
“You’ll have a traditional 28-day, 12-step style, but then we’ll have intensive programs as well for therapy and mental health,” he explained. “This is about giving people hope.”
The campus will combine traditional recovery approaches with holistic and experiential methods. That means therapy sessions, group activities, physical fitness, outdoor recreation, and even “mudding,” a Southern pastime he believes helps people reconnect with joy and nature. It’s about healing through belonging as much as it is through sobriety.
Building Hope on Familiar Ground
The land that will host the new rehabilitation center carries deep meaning for Jelly Roll. In October 2024, he and his wife, Bunnie Xo, bought a 500-acre property in Tennessee a milestone that moved him to tears. It was the same soil where he once stumbled, and now it will become the ground where others rise.
“Generational curses were broken because of you all,” he said to fans when announcing the purchase. “I’m standing on it. I am standing here, breaking a generational curse right now. And I hope that inspires one of you all to do the same thing.”
Out of those 500 acres, he plans to dedicate 100 to what he calls “a place for people like us.” It’s not philanthropy for the cameras; it’s a personal redemption story built into the landscape itself. The facility will not charge participants a single dollar, nor will it require insurance or complex paperwork. For Jelly Roll, those barriers are what keep people trapped in cycles of addiction.
His longtime friend and recovery advocate Big Mike said it best: “He’s truly dedicated to helping the community that helped him survive. This isn’t about fame or headlines. It’s about giving people hope.”
A Community, Not a Clinic
Jelly Roll’s vision for the rehab center goes far beyond traditional models. He doesn’t want to create a sterile, institutional environment. He envisions a community of equals a place where healing happens through connection, honesty, and shared experience.
One of the most innovative ideas he’s introducing is the concept of “guest weekenders.” These are people who have overcome addiction and want to give back by spending time at the facility, living alongside residents, working, cooking, and talking with them as peers rather than authority figures.
“Leave the phone and get in the trenches with the boys,” Jelly Roll said with characteristic directness. “This isn’t about lectures. It’s about being there.”
The aim is to remove the hierarchy often found in recovery programs. By sharing the same meals, same chores, and same daily challenges, participants and mentors can build trust and empathy. It’s recovery through fellowship.
He also wants to include spaces for outdoor recreation, community farming, and creative activities like music and art. “I found my purpose through music,” he once said. “Maybe someone else will find theirs through painting, or growing vegetables, or working on an engine. You never know where healing hides.”
Breaking Cycles, Building Futures
Jelly Roll often speaks about breaking “generational curses,” referring to the cycles of addiction, poverty, and trauma that repeat through families and communities. For him, building this campus is not just about treating individuals; it’s about disrupting those cycles on a larger scale.
“Generational curses were broke because of y’all,” he said during one of his vlogs. “I’m standing here breaking one right now.”
The project has already inspired conversations among recovery advocates and policymakers. Tennessee, like much of the South, faces major challenges in addiction treatment access. Rural areas are especially underserved, with limited facilities and long waiting lists. By placing his center in his home state, Jelly Roll is targeting one of the areas that needs it most.
His recent testimony before the U.S. Senate on the fentanyl crisis highlighted his commitment to systemic change. Speaking not as a celebrity but as a survivor, he urged lawmakers to focus on compassion and accessibility. “We have to make recovery something people can actually reach,” he told them.
Music as a Bridge to Healing
For fans, Jelly Roll’s announcement comes as no surprise. His music has long carried the same message of redemption and resilience. Songs like “Save Me” and “Need a Favor” capture the anguish of self-destruction and the yearning for grace. His lyrics have become anthems for those who feel broken but still want to believe they can change.
That authenticity has earned him a fiercely loyal fan base. When he revealed his plans for the rehab campus, social media was flooded with comments from people sharing their own recovery stories. “Your songs kept me alive through the hardest days,” one fan wrote. Another said, “You made me realize that my story wasn’t over.”
This connection between music and healing is what Jelly Roll wants to build into the campus experience. The recording studio he donated to the Nashville juvenile center in 2022 is proof that he sees creative expression as a path to recovery. He hopes to include similar creative spaces on the new campus where residents can write, sing, or play instruments as part of their healing journey.
A Legacy of Action
What sets Jelly Roll apart from many celebrity philanthropists is the depth of his involvement. He isn’t just funding the project; he’s designing it, shaping its philosophy, and assembling a team of professionals and recovery veterans to ensure it remains sustainable. Construction is expected to begin in the coming months, and plans are underway to collaborate with therapists, addiction counselors, and community leaders.
For Jelly Roll, this is not charity. “This isn’t charity,” he said in a video shared with fans. “It’s a promise. Now that I have the resources, I want to be the help I never had.”
That sentiment echoes through every aspect of his work. From his youth outreach in Nashville to his advocacy in Washington, he has consistently turned personal struggle into collective strength. Each project is another chapter in his story of transformation a story that proves brokenness can be the foundation for something beautiful.
Redemption as Responsibility
Jelly Roll’s journey shows that redemption is not a destination but an ongoing commitment. It’s a responsibility to those still fighting the same demons he once faced. He’s not just building a rehabilitation center; he’s building a message that echoes across communities: that recovery is possible, that change is real, and that no one is too far gone to find their way back.
He once said, “I never dreamed I’d be here. I wasn’t brave enough to dream this big.” Yet here he is, standing on his own land, envisioning a future where others can heal freely and without shame. His 100-acre campus will stand as both a monument to his past and a promise to the future proof that light can emerge from the darkest places.
The Ripple Effect of Hope
The ripples of Jelly Roll’s actions are already being felt beyond Tennessee. Recovery advocates across the country are watching to see if his model can inspire similar community-based, free-access centers elsewhere. His approach combines empathy with practicality, music with medicine, and community with compassion.
Fans, meanwhile, see him not just as a singer but as someone who walked through fire and came back to carry others out. In a world that often glorifies wealth and fame, Jelly Roll is proof that the most powerful legacy is service.
As he continues to tour and make music, his message remains the same that love, honesty, and perseverance can rebuild even the most shattered lives. The 100-acre rehab and mental health campus is not just his next project. It is his greatest song, written not in lyrics, but in lives transformed.
A Home for Second Chances
When the campus opens, it will stand as a home for second chances. A place where people can recover without judgment, reconnect with themselves, and rebuild their lives on solid ground. It will also stand as a living reminder that pain can be the starting point of purpose.
Jelly Roll’s story, from incarcerated teenager to award-winning artist and community advocate, is not one of perfection but persistence. His greatest message is not “look what I’ve done,” but “look what we can do.” Every brick laid on that Tennessee land will carry that spirit.
For those still struggling in silence, it will represent more than a facility. It will be proof that they are not alone. And for Jelly Roll, it will be the fulfillment of a promise made long ago that no matter how dark life becomes, there’s always a way back home.
Featured Image From Instagram @jellyroll615