Zak is spending most of his time in one of America’s most infamous prisons, San Quentin State Penitentiary in California.
Together with an inmate, ‘Wall Street’, who’s serving a life sentence, Zak is helping to teach inmates at San Quentin.
All of California’s death row inmates are placed in San Quentin and the facility also has its own Zipcode, 94964.
The inmates come from all over the state and many are incarcerated for gang violence.
After his father’s sudden and tragic death, Zak searched for a way to give back to society.
He began to look at the various rehabilitation programs offered to people sitting behind bars.
“Very helpful for me”
Zak Williams, who studied economics at Columbia University, was put in contact with inmate ‘Wall Street’.
Together they’re now helping to offer courses to inmates. They have a long waiting list of inmates who want to take part.
“Spending time at San Quentin, giving back, and trying to add value to people’s lives is something that’s been very helpful for me personally,” Zak Williams tells CNN.
His father Robin Williams was also passionate about giving back to society.
The actor was a passionate athlete and inspired young people with disabilities to pursue sports, reports The Huffington Post.
Since 1998 the ‘Good Will Hunting’ star was involved with Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), a charity that helps disabled people practice their sport.
Maybe that’s why Zak also feels so strongly about giving something back? After seeing the interview below, I’m convinced that Robin had a big influence on his son!
Considering how badly Robin Williams suffered for a large part of his life, it’s incredible to see how often it’s the people suffering most in life who give the most back.
It warmed my heart to read about Zak, I’m sure his dad is up there smiling.
We all need to lend a helping hand to people in need – all the respect in the world to you, Zak!
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