SafeLink wins Rep. Harold Rogers’ 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Kentucky’s Fifth District
Rep. Harold Rogers has named Liam Baldwin, Gunner Dotson, Avarie Hatfield, and Riley Romero of Belfry Middle School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Kentucky’s Fifth District. Their app SafeLink is designed to help people stay safe during natural disasters or emergencies.
When asked what inspired the creation of SafeLink, the students said, “We were inspired to create SafeLink after major floods hit our community and changed everything. Some of our closest friends, family members, and even people from our school had to be rescued by boats because the water rose so fast. We helped clean out homes where people had lost almost everything—furniture, clothes, pictures, and memories. It was heartbreaking to see how little warning they had and how unprepared everyone was for how quickly things got bad.
“One of the scariest parts was that our local nursing home almost flooded too. The water came within about six inches of breaking through the flood wall. If that had happened, it could have been a huge disaster for the elderly people living there. We realized that even a few minutes of warning could have made a big difference for so many people.
“After helping with cleanup and hearing people talk about what they wished they’d known, our team wanted to find a way to make communication faster and easier during emergencies. That’s how the idea for SafeLink started. We thought, ‘What if there was an app that could warn people early, show safe places, and let families know who’s okay or who needs help?’
“We started researching and coding with help from our teacher and some local developers. We used YouTube tutorials, articles, and even asked AI tools for help when we got stuck. Every time we learned something new, we thought about how it could help people in real-life emergencies.
“The floods showed us how powerful and unpredictable nature can be—but also how strong communities can become when they work together. SafeLink is our way of turning that experience into something positive. We want it to help families stay connected, responders find people faster, and everyone feel a little safer when disaster strikes.”
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.