At 14 years old, Greta Mendez’s genetic condition has left her unable to communicate with others.

“She’s been disabled her whole life,” said Jennifer Mendez, Greta’s mother. “She has severe sensory processing concerns. She’s able to walk and get around but she’s significantly different than her non-disabled peers.”

In 2015, Mendez decided to sign her daughter up as a “buddy” for the I Run 4 Michael organization – a nonprofit that pairs athletes of all levels with children and adults who have physical, mental and developmental special-needs.

“We didn’t really understand the concept of the organization,” Mendez said. “We signed up blindly and we hit the jackpot – we got paired with such an amazing runner.”

The Joliet family was teamed up with Toronto-native Alison Liddell in February of 2015.

Communication between buddies and runners is supposed to take place through dedicated Facebook groups, with each runner being responsible for posting three times a week with updates on the miles they’ve run or general news about their training, but Liddell’s relationship with the Mendez family has gone beyond the boundaries of social media.

“The whole experience has been a very inspirational thing for my family,” Mendez said. “Alison has given so much to involve herself with Greta and my other children. It’s important to know that someone else out there is in Greta’s corner and cares about her story, and Alison has given us that.”

When Greta’s school had a supply drive, Liddell sent over a box of donations. When she ran the Disney Marathon, Liddell sent Greta and her three siblings T-shirts from the park.

“From my perspective, the most important and greatest value is that somebody else values and respects my child,” Mendez said. “She [Liddell] sends Greta her medals when she completes a 5K or a marathon. It’s not just her generosity, but the value of what she does.”

Liddell will finally get to meet the Mendez family on Oct. 8, the day before she’s set to run the 2016 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Although Greta has extreme difficulty outside of her normal operating environment, Mendez thinks the chance to see Alison run for her daughter is too big of an opportunity to miss.

“It will be a big strain on Greta, but she will have to work through it,” Mendez said. “Alison has come so far to be here.”

The organization has grown immensely since Mendez joined the group almost two years ago, but the shortage of buddies still continues. The average wait for runners to be paired with a buddy is about four months, according to the organization’s website.

“Having that bridge between disabled people and those without a disability is something I think lacks so much in our world today,” Mendez said. “The organization offers a personal view into the life of someone who’s different from you – it teaches people about compassion and how to respect differences.”