It had been a rough year financially for Mr Harb and his wife Ashleigh, who had welcomed baby Levi into the world shortly after an ankle injury forced him to give up his job as a scaffolder.

The new job signalled a fresh beginning for the family - a journey that they had barely begun when fire devastated their Coniston unit block and destroyed all of their belongings.

Amid the stress of job searching and caring for Levi, they had let their insurance lapse.

A week after the blaze, the Harbs are piecing their life together with overwhelming support from their family and the Wollongong community.

They have been floored by the response.

"We're speechless, we don't know what to say or how to thank everyone," Mrs Harb said.

"For people that don't even know us to open up their hearts and help us, we cannot thank them enough."

Already family members have collected more than $8500 in donations and countless other basic items lost in the blaze.

One of John's cousins, Jenny Kaylak, received $100 from a stranger who had overheard her speaking about the Harbs' plight with a friend at a restaurant.

Another, Carol Harb, has launched a Help Rebuild Baby Levi's Home Facebook fund-raising page and has already secured a number of donations from Illawarra businesses, including a $2000 voucher from Fantastic Furniture Warrawong and manchester from Forty Winks.

Big W is donating some essentials to the Harbs, while others have pledged services for a fund-raising dinner and auction Carol is organising in January.

"I'm hoping to raise a minimum $50,000 to help them pretty much get back on their feet," she said.

"Hopefully they can actually use that as a deposit for a house. They've been struggling financially for the past few years so losing everything and not being insured is a smack in the face, really."

Ashleigh was quick to say other families were affected by the blaze.

"[Harcourts Wollongong] has set up a fund for everyone in the unit block," she said.

"Knowing that everyone else in that unit block has the support that we do makes me feel better. We're not the only ones struggling."