Bank of America to give $20M in grants to nonprofits

Bank of America will announce $20 million in grants to nonprofits across the country Wednesday, including $400,000 to two organizations in the Washington area.

Two $200,000 grants will go to CASA de Maryland, a group helping low-income Latino communities with such services as education and job training, and Manna Inc., which works to provide affordable housing and help tenants collaborate to purchase or renovate buildings.

"This will help us build a greater capacity for our mortgage program, and to strengthen our counseling program, our homebuyers' training program," said the Rev. Jim Dickerson, founder and chairman of Manna, which gives low-interest loans to homebuyers to whom banks might not lend.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than $200 million in 2008.