The person who asks how to help is useful; the person who listens to the answer becomes more useful.

Offering help is the easy half, and it can be done entirely from your own idea of what is needed. The harder half is accepting the answer when it turns out to be unglamorous: the lift at an inconvenient hour, the form nobody wants to fill in, the request to stop suggesting things. People in difficulty often stop asking because previous offers came with a preferred shape.

Ask what would actually help, then do that specific thing without adjusting it. If they cannot answer, offer two concrete options rather than an open question. Repeat the offer later, since needs change.