FCHome wins Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 18th District
Rep. Zoe Lofgren has named Manan Dua and Krishna Patel of Monta Vista High School and Oakwood School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 18th District. Their app FCHome is a mobile app designed to help transitional-age youth gain access to free transit passes (VTA, AC Transit, etc.) and essential resources such as shelters, clinics, and food programs across NorCal.
When asked what inspired the creation of FCHome, the students said, “While volunteering on the Santa Clara Crisis Line, I kept running into the same two barriers. First, when an unhoused or housing-insecure youth needed to reach a shelter or clinic, we often had nothing to offer apart from telling them to ‘Call 211.’ Second, even when services existed, finding accurate, nearby options was messy. I’d compile links and phone numbers from multiple sites, a slow, confusing process that often led nowhere. These factors motivated me to create FCHome: a single, trusted app that lists local shelters, food, health, and supply resources with clear details and then gets youth there with a funded bus pass or ride.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.