How to Help a Miserable and Depressed Friend?

Hello all,

One of my closest and longest friends always seems to vent to me about her personal life. I think it's wonderful that she feels comfortable enough to confide in me, especially since she is extremely shy and doesn't talk to many people about her life. I always do my best to be there and listen to her, but sometimes I wish I could do more.

Last night, she went through something traumatic since someone threw a brick threw her window at her house. Her older brother causes 99% of the problems in her family since he is a drug addict and gets involved with sketchy people. He also verbally abuses my friend, and blamed her for the incident and continued to call her nasty names.

Her parents seem to favor her brother over her, even though she is always helping them out financially, and constantly taking care of her 2 younger sisters as if they were her own. Her parents are also divorced, yet still live together, and her dad is also very abusive and just toxic.

I don't want to give out too much of her personal life, but that is basically her situation in a nutshell. On top of her home life, she also is hung up on this guy she works with who is 7 years older and has a girlfriend. My friend really is attached to him and is always buying him expensive gifts, just to show him how much she cares for and appreciates him. But, if he says something in the wrong tone, or goes days without texting her, she gets all depressed and breaks down.

As her friend, I do feel bad when she vents to me and I feel as though I cannot do anything to help her, besides telling her that everything is going to be alright, which I feel she is starting to not believe. I also try to give her advice, telling her she needs to focus on bettering herself and taking her life seriously, but after every paragraph I send, she only replies with a short "Thanks," as if she is just ignoring everything I am trying to say. She wasn't really raised to believe in taking care of yourself mentally and learning to love yourself and work for change, and I try to teach her, but she just has no faith or motivation.

She did try cutting herself about a year ago, which really broke my heart and made me feel like a terrible friend for not being able to help her. It was Halloween, and I was hanging out with some friends at college, and she called me twice, and even texted saying "I had the worst day," but I ignored it and told myself I'd text her later. But then she told me what she did, and it made me feel so bad for pushing her to the side. To this day, I still regret not just answering the phone. She promised me she wouldn't do it again because it just hurt and made her feel worse, and I truly believe she hasn't. But since we don't live next door to each other, and neither of us drives or has a car, I barely see her, and it makes me feel so low. I miss her, I wish I could help her escape and just live a better life because she means to much to me, but I can't.

Is there anything else I should do for her? How do I show her that she needs to take her life more seriously? I just want to help her since she has done so much to help me, but I feel so powerless and it makes me feel like a bad friend. What do I do?