Am I a useless friend???

Recently many of frens are faced with problems that are related to home, relationship or even work. There are some whom I can help by providing a listening ear. There are also some who I simply cannot do much to help. I can still provide them encouragements but this will not solve their problems. I sometimes feel pretty useless when I come across such cases. My frens were there when I needed help and I do wanna be able to help them when they face problems. Can someone tell me how I can help???