Chris Roby is a senior soldier with the Salvation Army, but 10 years ago he was on the other side — seeking help from the Salvos for his crippling alcoholism.

Mr Roby got his life back on track after taking part in a residential alcohol and drug rehabilitation program at Adele House, Coffs Harbour, for men who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness.

Now he's enlisting the help of men at Adele House to volunteer at an evacuation centre for bushfire-affected communities.

Luke from Sydney has been living in the local community after leaving Adele House two months ago.

"It's a good opportunity to get clean being up here and going to Adele House, because I didn't have the tools to stay clean," he said.

"Using drugs every day, dealing drugs — it wasn't the life for me [in] prison.

"If I went back to Sydney I'd probably go use again because that's the type of lifestyle I lived."

Chris Roby and his team helped prepare meals for firefighters. ( Supplied: Chris Roby )

Help in a time of crisis

Luke and the other men have gone above and beyond recently, helping to run the evacuation centre at the Dorrigo showgrounds.

The Salvos are one of a number of organisations, including the Red Cross and Family and Community Services, working at the centre.

Tasked with feeding evacuees and the firefighters battling the blaze on the Dorrigo Plateau, Mr Roby said the Salvos needed extra hands.

"I thought: 'We need people, where am I going to get people? I know, Adele'," he said.

"For doing these 150 meals that had to be out for the fire brigade, I just thought we were a bit short of people and I'd get the boys involved.

"I just want them to see another side of life ... plus I needed some hands to peel spuds and butter bread."

Luke has been living in the local community since he left Adele House. ( Supplied: Chris Roby )

Working at the evacuation centre was a good experience for the men, Mr Roby said, with the focus on slowly transitioning them into the community.

"They love it. It gets them out and about, away from their normal routine," he said.

"The rewards they get, their self-esteem — they feel like they're doing something good for the community and it just gives them that boost.

"There's nothing for them to go back to, because all that's back there is the same old thing."

People from across the community pitched in to help. ( ABC Mid North Coast: Luisa Rubbo )

Mr Roby said when he was released from prison, he had to go straight from the court house to Adele House.

"Do not pass go, don't go home, don't pat the dog, don't see your missus, straight to the rehab."

He stayed there for 18 weeks and a further three months as an outreach patient.

"We're all like one big happy family," Mr Roby said.

"Especially with the Alcoholics Anonymous and the Narcotics Anonymous meetings, the 12-step program, you get to know people because you get to say things in there that you probably wouldn't say to even your family."

Plenty of donations arrived at the evacuation centre. ( ABC Mid North Coast: Luisa Rubbo )

Luke said he found the experience rewarding.

"Seeing how a community can come together and give back and all the donations which have been given, it just shows how much people really do care," he said.

"There was one guy who was evacuated from his home, and he didn't even know if he was going to go back to a home, which really touched my heart.

"He just thought, well, if he loses his home, he just rebuilds it himself, and that's a shock, losing everything to a fire.

"It affected me in a good way, to see that people can give back, the humanity."

The men often just needed some "unconditional love" and someone to talk to, Mr Roby said.

The community came together in response to the fire emergency. ( Supplied: Chris Roby )

"They've got no-one else and they've got nowhere else to go, nowhere to turn, and that's what happens when they come out of jail into rehab," he said.

"They transition into the community and they just slip through the cracks unless they've got that support.

"By the time they get to that stage, they've burnt most of their bridges — that's the problem, so that's where we step in and just try to be a family.

"I was the same, so I understand."

'Their hearts are great'

To help the evacuees, Mr Roby said he just adopted the same approach as he did at Adele House.

The volunteers helped prepare dozens of meals for firefighters and people at the evacuation centre. ( Supplied: Chris Roby )

"If you see someone coming in that needs to chat, you've got to sit with them and find out what their needs are," he said.

"There was a guy in his car with eight dogs, so we're saving meat and he was just so wrapped to have a bucket of scraps for his dogs.

"Some of these guys are living up in the bush, up in these valleys where the fire goes ... they sort of live pretty rough but their hearts are great."

Luke has settled in Coffs Harbour and is studying a certificate IV in community service at TAFE.

"My aim is to actually give back and help those who will go through the same journey that I'm continuing to go on," he said.

"If there was another time that the Salvos needed me or the homeless needed me, I'm there."