Irish comedian's 'Rough Set' American walk puts focus on homeless
Hollywood based Irish actor and standup comedian Francis Cronin is in the final stage of his epic 500 mile walk from San Francisco to LA. During what he calls his ‘Rough Set’ mission he sleeps rough outside with no tent in an effort to better understand and advance the plight of the homeless. He shares his thoughts and reflections on his popular social media channels, which recently attracted the attention of US media giant Insider Edition, which has profiled his project.
The project is dedicated to raising money for the charity Homeless Health Care Los Angeles and with a few days to go, he has already raised over $15,000 from his online following. His end goal is to walk directly onto the Ellen stage and share his message of compassion and empathy for the homeless.
Cronin is originally from Templeogue in Dublin and served as a lieutenant in the Irish army, including on a UN mission to Liberia. In 2017 he received a presidential commission for 'Winning the tactical sword for leadership'. He retired from the army in 2008. Cronin previously owned an Irish bar in Guadalajara, Mexico and went on to achieve national acclaim as ‘tent boy’ that saw him create viral YouTube videos while living in a tent during his time as a mature student at NUI Galway. In recent years he has been living and working in Hollywood as an actor and standup comedian, working with Saturday Night Live alumnus Dana Carvey and Christopher Titus.
On his recent journey to promote awareness and action on homelessness, he has nearly lost an eye, suffered from a leg injury, been surrounded on a golf course in the middle of the night, had food poisoning and braved mountain lion territory in the middle of the night. Hollywood Elite including Chris O’Dowd, Jeff Garlin and many more have shown their support and Cronin now plans on creating a show based on his journey.
"I’ve been exposed to the ravages of drug addiction and homelessness in my immediate circle and I wanted to do something to draw attention and raise funds to the plight of people who need our help. It wasn’t until the end of the first week on the road that I began to understand the scale of the issue and the depths of despair many homeless people feel on a daily basis so it has been a huge education process for me. Sleeping out rough every night with no tent allowed me to see the issue from a different perspective. As I began to spend more time on the streets and I became more dishevelled It gave me an insight into how quickly society starts to ignore, judge and mistreat you. You become an outsider looking in. It's as if people don't recognise your existence, your humanity, as they walk by and this means you can drift to a place where your self worth can become questionable. It is hard to believe that despite all the wealth here in the U.S, that this is the reality for so many people, and it is sadly becoming normalised in Ireland too. I find myself asking why are we allowing this?"
Crowdfunding campaign; https://www.gofundme.com/rough-set-500-miles-from-bay-to-la-sleeping-out?fbclid=IwAR1RSbrQoEIn40pLckRof8Oxip358jOPcjszxWo97oq5K1-X8RPPFIWYvO8
US media video report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11yZLNvzRNQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1xAqw8IIx3H0a7fpRc2_0e30yext0hvv8G09KBusHgNQ5mF5S_JfIiWbU
Website / social media:
https://www.instagram.com/glowpunk/
https://www.facebook.com/glowpunk/