TroopCompanion wins Rep. Robert Wittman’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Virginia’s First District
Rep. Robert Wittman has named Faribah Nuha, Obaloluwa Ogunade, Jay Chauhan, and Jack Gardner of Deep Run High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Virginia’s First District. Their app TroopCompanion is a mobile application that specializes in providing support to veterans with PTSD who struggle with receiving therapeutic treatment due to a lack of accessibility, internalized mental health stigmas, or fear of consequences.
When asked what inspired the creation of TroopCompanion, the students said, “For the past few years, one of our team members has been a consistent volunteer at the Richmond Veterans Hospital. Through her work there, she has talked to veterans across the country. Time and time again, the ones that stood out to her in particular were PTSD patients. These veterans struggled to grapple with their current living situation, still stuck in their time on service. As she inquired further, she realized that these patients received inconsistent treatment; since veteran benefits could only be retrieved at veteran centers, many had to travel long distances to receive care, leading to an absence of care and slowed recovery rates.
“When discussing this, our team dived deeper, curious to know if there were other veterans who shared the same struggles. Shockingly, to our surprise, the veterans we encountered barely represented a fraction of the whole: approximately 7.9 million veterans with PTSD symptoms in the United States have never received treatment due to accessibility issues, internalized mental health stigmas, and fear of consequences. As our team sympathized with these veterans, we felt inspired to take action. And so, we set out on a journey to break down these barriers and to give our nation’s heroes the care they deserve.”
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.