The 2025 News Service of Florida has announced its 2025 Above & Beyond honorees, which cover a wide range of professions, including broadcast journalism, real estate, higher education, social services, and lobbying.
NSF wrote, “Whether bolstering research, modernizing healthcare or keeping communities informed, this year’s honorees are undeniably making the Sunshine State a more dynamic and prosperous place.”
On the list is Sally Bergosh, Executive Director of Health and Hope Clinic.
As chief of Pensacola’s Health and Hope Clinic, Sally Bergosh oversees a nonprofit that provides $8 million annually worth of free medical, dental, mental health and pharmacy services to the Northwest Florida community. Last year, Bergosh and her team of more than 400 volunteer doctors, dentists and nurses fulfilled some 20,000 patient visits for the uninsured and underserved, earning GOLD rating status from the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics for achieving the highest level of patient care.
Bergosh, a graduate of San Diego State University, most recently realized what she calls “a dream” by unveiling Hope and Health’s new Health and Wellness Wing for mental health and health education services. Over her six years in the role, she has emphasized holistic wellness, expanding the clinic’s Food as Medicine program as well as group counseling services and classes in gardening, tobacco cessation and movement; many offerings are bilingual in Spanish. “We are meeting patients where they are,” says Bergosh, “and removing obstacles for better overall health outcomes.”
UWF Graduate
The University of West Florida also had a graduate make the list: Jamilyn Newton, Regional Director of Lutheran Services Florida.
Lifelong Floridian Jamilyn Newton has devoted her career to bettering the lives of at-risk children and families throughout the state’s Panhandle and the Big Bend.
A licensed clinical social worker, she has served as the Northwest regional director for Lutheran Services Florida since 2024. Among her accomplishments is securing a federal grant to initiate street outreach programming for homeless youth in the Panhandle.
Newton has also served as chair of the Executive Board for the Circuit 1 Human Trafficking Task Force, which is based in Pensacola. In this role, she has led a multidisciplinary response team that designed and coordinated a local system of care for survivors of human trafficking.
Newton is an alumna of the University of West Florida and Florida State University. Prior to joining Lutheran Services, she worked as a youth and family advocate with Capital City Youth Services, a clinical director at Camelot Community Care in Tallahassee and a program supervisor at the National Youth Advocate Program in Pensacola.
