My best friend's life needs some adjusting, advice please?

ok so me and my best friend are 24 year old men, we arent gay(i suppose you gotta say that in this screwed up day and age) and weve been friends for 16 years, we live a block from eachother and our families know eachother. we used to have a lot in common, but as the years went on, our lives changed because our families and lifestyles differed. when he was 11-15 his older sister had 3 kids and as the kids grew up the responsibility of watching after them fell upon my friend, from the start i didnt think much of this, because my friend lived across the street from his sister and her family and he was still young enough not to 'have a life of his own' and i figured the sister was quite tired and burdened by having 3 kids at a young age(mid 20's) but it has been almost 14 years now and my friend is still constantly asked at least 3 nights out of the week to watch the kids who are now 13-11-10 while the parents do i dont know what. also my friends father who recently passed away a few months ago was an alcoholic who contributed next to nothing in my friends life, when i would go to his house the father would be yelling and cursing and my friend was embarrassed but i told him i dont mind, as it was out of my friends control, so why would i hold it against him. my frend had to get a part time job at age 17 because of money problems as he and his mother are the only 2 people who now work in the entire family(8 people) my friend is also going thru college but struggling mightily with getting a degree and steady job, last june he graduated from a 4 year college with a degree only to be turned down from this particular job, he has now gone back to a different school to obtain a 2 year degree in education. on another note, he isnt naturally very smart, he knows his share of things but he isnt 'smart' he is handy and resourceful. he doesnt hang around with smart people, thus he doesnt get anywhere as in social networking and getting good ideas from others. when he hangs out he just plays poker, bowling and basketball with people who are not bright. this is where i come in. i feel very bad for him and very much want to help him. i see the whole picture in his life, and as i have described it here and i see myself as the only person who can help my friend out. i want to show him new ways to live his life because he is very bogged down and burdened, and i feel he just needs to go to a secluded place and scream and yell and relax there. so if anyone has any ideas or comments, i would appreciate to hear them, cause i feel something needs to happen, thanks.My best friend's life needs some adjusting, advice please?
as if im going 2 read all that