LAS VEGAS – Clad only in a pair of bikini bottoms and a lobster-red sunburn, a stripper at Sapphire Gentleman’s Club turns to the one person allowed to touch her at work.

“Mom, can you put some lotion on my back?” she asks sheepishly.

Marcy Perez – the club’s official “house mom” – has just the remedy. She uncaps some aloe vera gel and massages it into the girl’s back.

“There’s somebody that always needs something,” says Perez, a cheerful 46-year-old woman who is dwarfed by the girls in their eight-inch heels.

At a number of strip clubs across the country, house moms do more than just help the performers get ready for the next shift. They listen when the girls need to vent and console when a customer gets abusive. They are part coach, part guidance counselor and very much a surrogate mother.

“They’re good for everything,” says Vye, a 26-year-old stripper from Las Vegas. “They’re better than a real mom.”

For many of these young women, a stripper’s world is one of stigma and isolation. Many refuse to tell their loved ones how they earn a living. Instead, they pass themselves off as cocktail waitresses or bartenders.

“There are a lot of parents that would disown their daughter if they knew they were strippers,” said Charlotte Andrews, a longtime house mom at Club Paradise.

For many, family consists of other strippers and the women paid to care for them.

“That’s why they come to us,” Perez said. “You’re the only one who knows the real them.”

On a recent night, Andrews busied herself backstage at Club Paradise, helping one stripper hide her tattoo with makeup and talking to another about an upcoming baby shower.

“They know they can talk to us about anything, where they can’t talk to their own families,” said Andrews, 58.

At Sapphire, Perez provides everything a stripper might need for the night. Bins filled with hair products, makeup and bite-sized snacks line an enormous dressing room mirror. Scents of “vanilla fantasy” and “night-blooming jasmine” permeate the air as the girls sample from a perfume collection also provided by Perez.

But rather than amenities and treats, it’s often the free advice and comfort the girls seek.

“They make you feel like a princess, no matter what you have on,” said September, a 23-year-old stripper at Sapphire. “They tell you you’re beautiful.”

House moms are trusted confidantes. They are older and wiser. They know what to do about a cheating boyfriend, a missed car payment and a family argument.

“They lend us their experience. They make you feel like no matter what happens, it’s OK,” said September.

While Perez and the two other house moms at Sapphire work solely on tips, Andrews and her two Club Paradise counterparts also earn an hourly wage.

The job rarely ends when the shift is over, and Perez’s cell phone rings frequently.

Mom, do you have the name of a good doctor?

Mom, where’s a good place to eat?

Not all house moms are as nurturing, according to the girls.

“At other clubs, they just sit there and collect money,” said Leilani, a 25-year-old stripper from Las Vegas.

“Here the house moms pamper us,” said Samantha K., a 23-year-old stripper at Sapphire who has worked at several East Coast clubs.

From fixing ripped costumes to taking food orders, good house moms see to the girls’ needs. They keep an eye on belongings backstage and serve as mediators when the girls’ competition for wealthy customers and tips leads to disputes.

“I use them for emotional support. And candy,” giggled Charlene, a 24-year-old stripper from Las Vegas. “If you forget your G-string at home – God forbid! – they sell them.”

Despite the odd late-night hours, the house moms enjoy their jobs for the chance to feel useful and to connect with young women who could be their daughters.

“I get involved with the girls because I miss the mother-daughter thing,” said Perez, whose own daughter is 27 and mentally disabled. “When they need you, you’re there.”

Andrews says she’s the most concerned about those young women who have yet to set goals, who are living the party life instead of looking to the future.

“They don’t know how strong they are or how much potential they have,” Andrews said. “I have 200 daughters here. I worry about all of them.”