Grace Changes Everything Terence Kendrick and Grace Construction
By Tabitha Ervin
Editorial Director
Terrence has served in many capacities in the community including front line ministry, therapeutic foster care with his wife and working with youth in the schools. In addition to that, he is talented in construction work but had not focused on that until more recently with the launch and success of Grace Construction. We discussed his business earlier this year and finally we were able to sit down.
Ervin: Thanks for your time today! So tell me how Grace Construction got started?
Kendrick: Well, I remodeled a basement and after I was done the owner said if I ever want to become more efficient or get more jobs in construction, he could help me with that! I didn’t know him personally, and he paid me for the basement that was it!! Six months later he asked me to remodel his office and said the same thing; it went in one ear out the other! Then, two months later we saw each other at the stoplight and he asked where I was going, I said my truck just broke down and I’m going to rent a vehicle.
He said you don’t have to do that, you can borrow one of my 2021 pro master trucks, he had six of them in the driveway. He said I could use it anytime I wanted and as much as I needed. After two weeks, he asked me how I liked the vehicle. I said I love it and he said let’s form a partnership!!
He asked me what my vision was and it was called Grace Construction. After my Pastor, Dr. Underwood taught me what Grace meant, I knew I was going to name the company that, with the theme that Grace Changes Everything!!! He put money in my bank account, gave me a credit card, Website, Google page, Facebook, Instagram, and a program called BuilderTREND that allows me to see all of my jobs and the status of the jobs!!
Originally I didn’t want to do it right away because I already had jobs in the pipeline and I was on my way to Texas, as I volunteered to take Youth to the junior Olympics there! He encouraged me to start now. He got the LLC, filed the paperwork with the state and while I was in Texas and that's how I got started!
Ervin: This is amazing! What happened next?
He said he didn’t want anything, he just wanted to support my work and my vision. From August to December of last year we made over a quarter million dollars and he wanted to buy me out but he was going to change the name from Grace Construction to something else and just pay me as a sales rep. I was set against it and I just bought him out. We went over one million in revenue in October of this year and we’re pressing forward!!!!
One thing I didn’t tell you is that I literally had a conversation with God during the transition, I said why didn’t You allow me to be in the business for myself along time ago and He said I need you to be pro-people before you are pro-profit because if you’re pro-profit first, you’ll forget about the people!
Ervin: What kinds of work have you completed?
Kendrick: We built a home from the ground up, we have been able to do some rebuilds and remodels and we are looking forward to more in 2023!
Ervin: Tell me about your staff structure and how people get in touch with you?
Kendrick: Dr. Demetra Kendrick is my wife and personal secretary and course co-owner of Grace Construction. Zuri Williams is our Chief Financial Officer along with Rick Foster my Project Manager and Supervisor Antonio Rameriz with other staff that assist us with the work.
Our website is graceconstruction.com and we are on Facebook and Instagram. Our new office is located at 3201 Stellhorn Road, Suite 126. Our email and phone number are as follows: info@graceremodel.com and 1 (877) 303 - 0110.
Ervin: Lastly share with me your new collaboration with the YouthBuild Program at the Fort Wayne Housing Authority.
Kendrick: Yes of course! Every move that I’ve made has been in God's timing. I was approached outside of a store in my construction truck about potentially joining to support the program. Youth will have access to literacy support from the Literacy Alliance and will be able to learn construction from my company along with additional program support for the YouthBuild team at the Fort Wayne Housing Authority. We will start the cohort in January.
From the Housing Authority website: The Fort Wayne Housing Authority YouthBuild is a program that provides leadership, education, and occupational skill development for local youth ages 16 -24 who are out of school and/or have not obtained a high school diploma. The program lasts six months with one year of follow-up and case management.
Supported by the Department of Labor, YouthBuild members can earn money while getting valuable training and have the opportunity to obtain their high school diploma and certification in construction and healthcare to prepare them for postsecondary opportunities. https://fwha.org/
Ervin: Congratulations on all of your success and we look forward to seeing more from you in 2023!
