PROVIDENCE — Leaders of a broad-based interfaith coalition of clergy and other groups, alarmed at what they see as the tendency by some politicians to place the needs of the poor on the back burner, are poised to issue a call to area churches, synagogues and temples today, urging those seeking public office to outline what they will do during their first 100 days to create more economic opportunity.

The group — made up of more than 30 organizations, including the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, and the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island — is called the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition. It plans to kick off its campaign with a news conference at 2 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center.

“The key point is that the faith-based groups are getting together in unison to fight poverty,” said Marty Cooper, of the Jewish Federation. “We are going to ask all the candidates seeking office to take poverty seriously.”

Although today’s move is partly in response to a call from a number of other groups, including Catholic Charities USA and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, for a new national campaign to reduce poverty, some of the leaders here said the local effort is also motivated by their concerns about Rhode Island’s high unemployment rate, 7.5 percent, and the effect of the housing crisis on the poor.

The Rev. Donald C. Anderson, executive minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, said the coalition that has been formed in Rhode Island is a local manifestation of a national movement to cut poverty in half in 10 years.

He said letters will be going out to all of the state’s general office holders this week, as well as to all candidates for House and Senate, to ask that they sign a pledge. “We expect that on Oct. 2 we will hold an interfaith prayer vigil where we release the names of all those who have signed on.”

Although Mr. Anderson sees the recommendations of a “Poverty, Work and Opportunity Task Force,” which was created last year by Mayor David N. Cicilline as a starting point of some of the things that elected officials can do, he said the clergy leaders are by no means limiting themselves to government solutions to the problem of poverty, and are asking business and labor leaders and other social-service agencies to lend their ideas as to the best way to pull people out of poverty.

“Even though we come from different religious backgrounds, one thing that is common to all our traditions — that we must do more to help the poor.”

Pat Jaehnig, of the Diocese of Providence’s community affairs office, noted that local churches have had a long tradition of trying to help the poor by sponsoring soup kitchens, setting up food pantries and offering rental assistance.

But the demand, she said, is outstripping the ability of congregations to provide such services and there “needs to be more of a partnership” to provide people with job training, health care and affordable housing.

She said that on the national level a number of faith-based organizations including Catholic Charities and the National Association of Evangelical Churches asked the Obama and McCain campaigns to provide some prime time at their party’s national conventions to the issue of combating poverty, but the request appeared to be unheeded.

“Some people will probably think this is all political in nature,” said Cooper. “But the issue is much broader. It’s about educating our work force to get better jobs, and getting businesses involved.”

Cooper said he recently sent e-mails to all of the state’s rabbis asking them to deliver sermons on poverty during this month, and said he understands some of the other faith groups will attempt to do the same.

Among the other faith groups taking part are the Muslim American Dawah Center, headed by Imam Farid Ansari; the American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island; the Ministers Alliance of Rhode Island and the Hispanic Ministerial Alliance; the Institute for the Study and Practice of Non-Violence; Jewish Family Service; and local congregations at Beneficent Congregational Church, the Open Table of Christ United Methodist Church, Brown University Hillel, the Brown University Church of Providence, Providence Presbyterian Church and Temple Emanu-El.

rdujardi@projo.com