Cambridge community comes together after cafe owner’s ALS diagnosis

The owners of a well-known Cambridge coffee shop are thanking their community after one of them was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Monica and Graham Braun have been married for almost 25 years. The couple quit their corporate jobs to start their own coffee shop called Monigram Coffee Roasters.

“They are Mon and Graham – they're Monigram, like the name for this coffee shop is perfect for them. They’re two peas in a pod,” Tracey Curtis, a friend of the couple said.

Monica Braun said they’ve come a long way since their humble beginnings.

“He was roasting coffee in our basement, setting off the fire alarm and that kind of thing,” she told CTV News.

Monica said COVID-19 was hard enough for anyone in the hospitality industry, but the couple got more bad news – a diagnosis of a rare neurological disease.

“Six MRIs later, during COVID, and we go for three opinions, and they all said it's ALS,” Monica said.

“ALS typically comes in a few forms. Mine was a lower limb on-set, so I noticed that at one point I was walking, and my foot kind of dragged along the toes,” Graham Braun admitted.

As Graham progressed from a cane to a walker, and now a wheelchair, the cost of his decline began to add up.

Not only did their home need to be renovated to fit a wheelchair, but his only way into the cafe is through the back door with a removable ramp.

“He hasn't really been in, physically, to the business in months because it's hard. Not just to get him in here, but he's tired,” Monica said.

He said he misses being with the customers and the customers miss him – raising about $40,000 thanks to a fundraiser started by a friend.

Monica and Graham said they are forever grateful.

Their next project is to make the front door of the café accessible.

“It would require a fairly big re-jig of our front door and a fairly big ramp because there are a few feet up to the front door,” Graham said. “Even if we can't make it accessible before I get to use it – I want it to be accessible for the future.”