Jo Houghton

Manager/Field Officer | Christchurch Kidney Society

I am the Manager/Field Officer of the Christchurch Kidney Society and I have been in this position for nine years. I started with the Society as a volunteer and Committee member over 20 years ago.
I have been married for 36 years to Wayne and have two amazing children, Dan and Katya, who are now adults. I adore all animals and have a passion for gardening, although you wouldn’t know it to look at my garden sometimes. I have owned a business with my husband for many years and worked in law offices, and prior to this position I was working at MBIE with the Earthquake Recovery Team. I have always incorporated some type of volunteer work into my days since I was young.
Both of my children were born with a condition called ‘urinary reflux’ and this started me on a journey of seeking information and trying to ensure this condition was controlled and would not cause any problems later in life for them. This was not easy 30 years ago and I was often called “neurotic” when asking questions, of which I asked many! Along the way I met wonderful people who had received kidney transplants (and were potentially undiagnosed with this as children) and people on dialysis, who all became friends.
I knew very little of what it was to have chronic kidney disease, or understand the dialysis process, and even believed transplantation essentially meant a cure! I know better now, but I am still learning each day.
My role at the Society is everything from administrator, account management, fundraiser and many other things, but each day I seek new ways to support people with chronic kidney disease and end stage renal failure and have introduced many new things to the Society and what it offers our people. We have a good relationship with Christchurch Hospital Nephrology Department which is crucial to the best support for people with kidney disease.
I meet the most wonderful people in this role and I am very grateful for that.