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Although she contends she's "not in the business of opening coffee shops," Michal Heller is brewing solutions to bring San Francisco's Jewish students to a central spot.

She's not concerned with lattes, cappuccinos or even Americanos — although the coffeehouse would certainly serve them up.

The director of the new Citywide Hillel, Heller, 44, is charged with reaching out to Jews on all of San Francisco's campuses — about 1,000 students at San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco, City College, Hastings College of the Law and Golden Gate University.

Because these are commuter schools, a typical Hillel model — aimed at residential students ages 18 through 22 — isn't practical, Heller says. But everyone drinks coffee, or some derivation thereof.

"Trying a cup of coffee is easy. Ideally, I'd like to see a Jewish-themed coffeehouse — a coffee shop downstairs, classes and meeting space upstairs," Heller says.

"I think that's what would work best in an urban environment. Of course we'd have to move to a neighborhood people want to go to and is easy to get to."

Such plans are far in the future. With less than a year under her belt, Heller — former literacy services coordinator for the city of Newport Beach, director of community and volunteer services for Kibbutz Shomrat-Kibbutz Artzi Federation, and a 17-year resident of Israel — is still in the process of restructuring the organization.

Nearly two years ago, the boards of the Northern California Hillel Council and San Francisco Hillel formed a commuter services task force to find better ways to serve Jewish students on San Francisco's campuses.

According to Jerry Isaak-Shapiro, executive director of NCHC, "there was a lot of confusion. Although San Francisco Hillel was responsible for programming for the entire city, people saw it as almost exclusively for SFSU students."There was a sense of overlapping and some inefficiency."

Plus, the traditional Hillel model had not proven successful on commuter campuses.

"Commuter students don't have time to hang out. They're older, working and usually not living close to campus. In San Francisco you get housing wherever you can," Heller says.

"These students don't need a home away from home. They don't need full rabbinical services. What they do need is a central location, where they want to be, and where they can meet other Jews."

As a result, the San Francisco Hillel board dissolved and regrouped under the name San Francisco Citywide Hillel.

The new structure includes a programming director at SFSU, an outreach worker to all other San Francisco campuses, and Heller, whose position is a result of the overhaul.

Unlike most Hillels, which are known for Shabbat dinners and High Holy Day services, Hillel Citywide is focusing its efforts on bringing together students with similar interests — like skiing, eco-Zionism and women's issues.

"We're trying to get the word out that Hillel isn't a specific ideology. It's an umbrella organization," Heller says. "Jews who hike and do Rosh Chodesh [New Moon celebrations] — they're all Hillel."

A coffeehouse-style central location is the next step. But "first, we have to have a track record of providing services," Heller says. "A cafe will work in an urban environment. But no one will throw money into it until we show it's what we need."