Disabled isn't a term in Nick Amburgey’s vocabulary.

People just “need some help” sometimes, Amburgey said.

Amburgey, 24, comes in with the trucks at Old Navy’s Fayetteville location.

Thursday he broke open boxes and prepped merchandise for shelving on a shift that began at 5 a.m.

The store calls it processing a shipment. Amburgey says it’s a good job to have.

If you want a job you have look for one and have a good attitude, he said. He worked three months as an intern before he was hired at the Fayetteville store, part of a job placement program with Life Styles Inc. He lives on his own. He works one day a week at Old Navy and three days a week as a dishwasher at U.S. Pizza Co. in Fayetteville. Co-workers at the pizza

place call him “Turbo” and had an apron embroidered with his nickname, he said.

“I don’t stop until the work is done,” Amburgey said Thursday as a co-worker at Old Navy nodded in agreement.

Don’t tell Amburgey he can’t. He isn’t going to believe you.

“It’s not going to be pretty,” he said with a laugh.

Amburgey is one of the success stories for Life Styles, which works with disabled people to integrate them into the community.

“Everybody has different abilities. Everybody has different strengths and needs,” said Jennifer Maynard, Life Styles executive director.

The not-for-profit agency closed its car wash in Rogers on Sept. 18. The car wash was used as a training facility. There were nine trainees at the site and two have already been placed in jobs, Maynard said.

“Nobody wanted to be there forever,” she said.

Amburgey said he worked a stint at the car wash, but said he likes his new job better than vacuuming car mats.

The goal was for the car wash to bring in enough revenue to make it self-sustaining.

Tax filings from Life Styles Employment Services Inc., the division which ran the car wash, indicate the operation wasn't self-sustaining, costing $50,055, according to the group’s 2011 tax filings; $56,360; according to the group’s 2010 tax filings; and $98,250 during the 2009 filing period.

Board members looked at financial statements every month, and eventually decided to close the business. Life Styles isn’t in the business of being in business, but in developing the abilities of those they serve, Maynard said.

The property will be sold.

“It’s a tough business. It’s weather dependent,” she said.

The focus now is on placing people with intellectual disabilities — from autism to Down syndrome to learning disabilities — in businesses instead of extended training, Maynard said. There are 140 people who have found employment in partnership with Life Styles over the years. A trainer accompanies clients to their job sites and helps with the transition.

“Then we just slowly fade out,” Maynard said.

A nationally affiliated high school program called Project Search rotates students through three, 10-week internships at Washington Regional Medical Center.

The diversity of departments at the hospital allows students to try different jobs, said Steve Percival, vice president of human resources for Washington Regional Medical Center

Students have to interview in the different departments, and the program takes into account student goals and the skills they will need to reach them.

“We end up getting more out of it than the kids do,” he said.

The program matches the mission of the hospital, which is to improve the health of the community, he said. It takes time to work with the young people, but they learn real skills.

They might learn to sterilize equipment or have the goal of becoming a dishwasher.

“Sometimes you need somebody who comes to work every day, and they’re excited, and you can count on them,” Percival said.

In Rogers, Open Avenues provides training and a job center for adults with disabilities. “Capable people, quality work” is the organization’s motto.

The group has placed more than 400 people in businesses through the years, said Brenda Neal, executive director. However, the organization’s work center is central to Open Avenues’ mission because it affords people a choice.

One hurdle people face is transportation. There's no public transit for second shift, and that's where some of the jobs are, Neal said. Atmosphere is another hurdle.

“Not every company is inviting,” Neal said.

Miranda Jennings, 37, had a job before she started working at Open Avenues in August 2011. It was frustrating to try to explain to people who didn’t understand that just because she didn’t move as fast as the next person, it didn’t mean she didn’t understand direction.

“We’re not stupid. We’re just slower,” she said.

Her job at Open Avenues gives her something to do, a place to be where she can banter with friends. Without the job, she would be sitting at home doing nothing, Jennings said.

She was born with hydrocephalus or “water on the brain,” Jennings said. Stress can cause seizures and a job where no one understood her caused stress, she said.

“Sometimes it’s just hard to explain,” she said.

If she were to have a seizure at Open Avenues she feels assured everyone would know what to do.

A person might technically be “disabled,” but there's a job for everyone, Neal said. One person might have high dexterity, but low stamina; another might process new thoughts slower, but have high attention to detail. The work center is flexible when doctor appointments affect a person’s ability to work. More experienced employees at the center make better than minimum wage, Neal said.

Federal and state programs fund a limited amount of the program. The companies pay for the work done, and donations from United Way of Northwest Arkansas keep operations going, Neal said.

Jobs can vary from day to day. Last week, employees were affixing zipper bags to displays in color order. Others recycled boxes, marking out the bar codes on boxes in good shape and weeding out the ones too battered to ship again. Some employees assembled and packaged fishing lures, while others count out plastic rounds used to temporarily snug up a ring for packaging, put them into boxes and get the pallets ready to ship. That job has been part of Open Avenues for 20 years, Neal said.

“It’s a matter of finding the right job for the right person,” she said.